


Budding Feelings, Broken Hearts

by TokoWH



Series: Holiday Chronicles [1]
Category: Spyro, Spyro the Dragon (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Love Triangles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-14
Updated: 2014-02-14
Packaged: 2018-01-12 08:46:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 23,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1184242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TokoWH/pseuds/TokoWH
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All Elora wants is to make sure the realms are up holding the Valentine's day truce. All Spyro wants is to work up the courage to give Elora his Valentine's day card. All Ember wants is to give her Valentine's day card to Spyro. Oh, and Agent 9 thinks Ember is a rhynoc spy for the Sorceress in disguise. Yep, it's Valentine's day in the dragon realms.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Budding Feelings, Broken Hearts

**Author's Note:**

> (One-Shot beta-read by Riverstyxx. Further comments at the end of the fic.)

A crisp, cool breeze flowed through Avalar. Autumn Plains was living up to its name. A special feeling carried in the air as the spirit of Valentine's Day was in full force. Across the realms, beings of many different species were giving gifts to their special somebodies. It was a joyous time for all... Well, except for one purple dragon.

The trees rustled as a pair of purple paws pushed open a small gap in the leaves. Spyro's eyes darted around as he looked around the plains for even the tiniest trace of anything pink. With an annoyed sigh, he laid back on the branch as his buddy Sparx hovered by him.

"I hate this stupid holiday," he muttered, his eyes drooping as he let his arms go limp and hang over the branches. "Whoever invented it needs to have their butt charged so bad it's not even funny."

Spyro had never liked Valentine's Day, being a firm believer that love was nothing but a sickness that causes the greatest of heroes to act like idiots. Even his best friend Hunter wasn't immune to it, having fallen in love with a former-evil-turned-good rabbit sometime after the stolen egg fiasco. It had annoyed Spyro greatly, and every Valentine's Day it was the same thing: Spyro hiding in one of the Artisan temples while constantly gagging every time he was unlucky enough to see a dragon with their special someone.

However, this Valentine's Day, the purple dragon had a lot more reason to worry.

It was a few months ago now that Spyro had gone on his latest adventure. A rouge elder named Red had tried to take over the Dragon Realms using some 'dark crystals' that would distort reality and cause those around them to act rather odd. Well, odder than usual, anyway. It had seemed rather routine, really. Smash the crystals; collect the macguffins; nothing he wasn't used to by now. Of course, that was until he came across a village 'cleverly' named Dragon Village.

It didn't seem too out of the ordinary at first. A bunch of stuffy elders went about their business while Spyro was busy dealing with the crisis no one seemed too concerned about. However, what caught him off guard was the fact that there were also several dragons around his age living there as well.

Growing up in the Artisan Realms where young dragons were scarce, Spyro wasn't all that used to interacting with dragons about his same age. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, as he could simply avoid them, but little did he know that there was one such dragon who had no intention of leaving him be.

That dragon was a pink dragoness known as Ember. As Spyro quickly found out, she was quite the fan of him. Admittedly, it was kind of awesome at first. Though he had accomplished some rather amazing feats for his age, Spyro didn't think his reputation had extended _that_ far. However, that awesome feeling quickly faded when the dragoness started dropping 'hints' that she wanted to be a _lot_ more than just friends.

Spyro was usually lucky, though, as during that quest he had only seen his 'number one fan' sparingly and managed to come up with an excuse to dart away shortly after. However, that luck did not entirely hold out.

"Sparx, remind me to torch the butt of whoever thought it was a good idea to set up a portal between the Artisan Realm and Dragon Village."

 _"Duly noted,"_ the dragonfly chuckled to himself in his kazoo-like language. To be honest, Sparx was kind of upset that all the dark crystals had been smashed. True, they had been causing major problems in the realms, but at least they had allowed other people besides Spyro to understand him.

Spyro placed his paw over his eyes. The idea behind that decision was that, if there were any other problems like with what happened with Red, they would be able to get there quicker without having to take several portals like before. Of course, one could guess who was the most ecstatic about that plan.

Almost every other day, Ember would hop through the portal to see her idol. Needless to say, Spyro ended up taking a _lot_ more trips to the other realms. The unlucky few times he was still in the realm when she was there weren't exactly pleasant. Despite insisting that he was busy at the time, Ember would end up following him around like she was his shadow, and if she wasn't going on about how awesome he was—which, admittedly, he didn't mind too much—it was the constant suggesting that, deep down, the purple dragon might like her more than just a friend. The constant teasing and poking from Hunter about it didn't help either.

True, Spyro could have told her to just leave him alone, but despite all his bragging and mischievous nature, he wasn't the kind of dragon to just tell people to get lost because they annoyed him. Besides, she _was_ his fan. In a way, it was nice having someone who looked up to him... Even if she never left him alone.

Spyro sighed. If Ember was blunt about her feelings towards him most of the time, he could only image how crazy she would get on this stupid day about a stupid emotion. So, here he was now: hiding in a tree in the hope that he could ride the day out without encountering his number one fan.

_"So, what's the game plan, coach? We just going to sit in a tree all day?"_

"More or less," Spyro said, stretching a bit as he leant forward and lay down on the branch. "I might have to brave it to get something to eat eventually, and there was thing I was planning to gi—"

Spyro's eyes went wide as he realized what he was saying, quickly catching himself as he put his paws over his mouth.

Raising an eyebrow, Sparx flew down in front of Spyro's face, the dragon quickly averting his eyes as he did. _"You were planning to give something to someone? What is it, and to who?"_

"It's nothing! I was just thinking of some of my past adventures where I had to fetch a lot of things for people! It's hard to get out of that mindset, okay!?"

Despite Spyro's insistence, the luminous blush on his face was quick to betray his words. Sparx paused for a few seconds as Spyro turned his head away. As the realization hit him, Sparx got a big goofy grin on his face.

 _"Oh,_ I _get it,"_ Sparx said, crossing his arms as his grin got wider. _"You're planning on giving someone a Valentine's Day gift!"_

"Am not!"

As the blush on Spyro's face got pinker by the second, Sparx couldn't help but laugh.

 _"Who would have thought,"_ Sparx said in between laughs as he put his hand on his forehead. _"Mr. 'love is a disease' giving someone a Valentine's Day gift! Oooh, the little dragon I've known for years is finally growing up!"_

Spyro growled, turning his head away in a futile attempt to hide the growing pink on his cheeks. Sparx cleared his throat in an attempt to stop laughing, but the grin never left his face. _"So, who's the lucky lady?'_

Getting only a growl in response, Sparx put his hand to his chin. _"Let's see... Sheila already has three admirers in her homeworld and Bianca is already spoken for..."_

_"Hmm... Dare I say that there's the possibility it could be Em—"_

"Sparx, you're my best friend and we've known each other since I hatched from an egg. However, if you don't stop _right_ now..."

Sparx rolled his eyes at the annoyed look Spyro was giving him, turning around as he crossed his arms. _"Alright, alright! Geeze, I was only having fun. You don't need to bite my head off."_

He paused for a few seconds to pout. However, it didn't take long before he turned back to glance at the dragon. _"...Seriously though, who is it?"_

Spyro sighed in annoyance as he looked away, his blush stubbornly refusing to subside. "Fine. If you must know, it's for Elora."

 _"Knew it!"_ Sparx exclaimed, flying straight into Spyro's face with a big grin. _"So_ that's _why we're really in this world! I always knew that under all that anti-love preaching you really did like her!"_

"Do not!" Spyro said, jetting up as he glared at Sparx, the blush on his face redder than ever. "I'm just giving her a card to make sure she doesn't feel left out today! That's all!"

 _"Suuuuuuuuuure. That's_ totally _the reason."_

Spyro let out an annoyed grunt as he went back to lying on the branch. Sparx chuckled as he landed on his horn, and a few seconds passed as neither spoke. Finally, Sparx looked down at his friend.

 _"Hey, cheer up,"_ he said, flying down in front of Spyro's face. _"You know I was just teasing. Besides, I think we're in the clear. It's been half the day and still no sign of—"_

_"Spyyyyroooo!"_

_"No way."_

Spyro cringed at the all too familiar voice, careful to make as little noise as possible as he poked a hole through the leaves. Down near the pool was the exact dragon he had been hoping to avoid. Ember had a big smile on her face as she hopped up and down, stopping to look around with her big blue eyes. A red heart-shaped card in her mouth, she started to head over towards the temple.

Spyro let out an annoyed grunt before he looked at Sparx. "You just _had_ to say something, didn't you?"

The dragonfly scratched his cheek, a sheepish grin on his face. _"Eh, sorry. My bad."_

Spyro sighed as he watched Ember disappear near the ladders leading up to the temple, a frown on his face.

 _"No prizes for guessing who that Valentine is for,"_ Sparx said in hopes of lightening the mood, but it did little to calm Spyro's nerves.

"How did she even know I was here!? The only one who saw me head here was—" Spyro's eyes narrowed as the answer hit him like a ton of bricks.

 _"Hunter!"_ Spyro exclaimed, his voice containing both anger and betrayal as he pulled back behind the leaves. "I can't believe him! Why in the Dragon Realms would he do that!?"

Sparx scratched his chin, glancing up half-heartedly. _"Well, I'm sure it had_ nothing _to do with you recently putting hot chilli pepper in his favorite pilot helmet."_

"Hey, he started that with his whole 'glue and feathers' prank a few weeks ago! Took me _forever_ to get all those feathers off my scales!" Spyro said. He groaned and lay back against the tree trunk.

"This is just great... What am I suppose to do now?" he muttered, putting his paws over his eyes.

 _"Well, I suggest you do something fast,"_ Sparx said as he noticed something past the leaves and flew over to get a better look. _"Because Elora is on her way to Zephyr as we speak."_

Spyro jumped at Sparx's words and quickly pushed past the leaves. Sure enough, Elora was standing next to Zephyr's portal. Holding what appeared to be a clipboard, the faun jumped through the portal not a second later.

Spyro gulped, looking back at the temple. Ember was somewhere in there, and there were several balconies that gave a good view of the plains. Surely, if Spyro was quick enough, there was no way Ember would see him go through the portal... Right?

Spyro took a deep breath, grabbing hold of the tree trunk as he slid down to the bottom. Quickly hiding behind the tree, he looked up at the balconies. No sign of pink anywhere. Spyro quickly darted out from behind the tree and towards Zephyr's portal.

* * *

Atop in the temple's inners, a mole in a lab coat stood by a large machine. A green-colored beaker was set under a nozzle, and a tiny orange drop of water dripped into it. Carefully, the mole tip-toed over to it and picked it up gently. He paused, putting his hand that he was holding the clipboard in up to his chin. Cautiously, he stirred the concoction around as gently as he could.

The potion promptly exploded in his face.

Face full of soot, he let out several coughs and tossed the now broken beaker into a pile of other shattered beakers.

"Blast," he muttered, shaking his face off before readjusting his glasses. "I don't understand why they keep doing that."

Agent 9 tried his best to suppress his laughter by placing his hand in front of his mouth. He didn't understand why the Professor suddenly wanted to set up a lab in this place, but so far the results had been hilarious. It almost made up for the lack of action these past few weeks. He yawned as the Professor stubbornly refused to give up, placing another beaker under the machine before he went back to typing on his keyboard.

Hearing the pitter-patter of paws, Agent 9 turned his head to see a pink dragon skipping by. Eyes wide with confusion, he wondered if the blast from the explosion was starting to affect the air in there somehow. He jumped a bit as the dragon looked over towards him.

"Es'cus mphe," she said before taking the heart-shaped card out of her mouth. "Have you seen a purple dragon around here somewhere?"

Agent 9 blinked a couple of times and shook his head. Narrowing his eyes and scratching his chin, he placed his blaster onto his belt and started to poke Ember's head.

Flinching with each poke, the dragoness scowled in confusion and annoyance. "What are you doing?"

Scratching his chin, Agent 9 shrugged. "Sorry, it's just that I've never seen a girlier-looking dragon in my life. For a second there I thought I was going crazy. _Weeeeeell,_ people already say I have a few screws loose, but that's beside the point."

Ember looked at the monkey with eyes wide, backing up slightly to put some distance between them.

" _Anyways..._ " she said, hunching down awkwardly to bolt if need be. "Purple dragon?"

Agent 9 put his hand on his chin, walking over to Ember. One of his eyes widened as he got a good look at her, and he couldn't shake the odd feeling at the back of his mind. "I feel like I know you from somewhere."

Ember backed away slightly, gulping slightly as she did. "Uh, I-I don't think so. I feel like I would remember someone like you."

Agent 9 wasn't convinced, inching forward without taking the hint. Finally his eyes went wide as it hit him, and he snapped his fingers as he jumped away. "Oh, right! You're that girl that keeps following Spyro around like a lost puppy! Uh…" Agent 9 tilted his head. "What was your name again? Flare something? No, that ain't it."

Ember just looked on in confusion, starting to regret ever asking this monkey about where Spyro might be. "Uh, it's Ember..."

"Oh, right! Ember!" Agent 9 said, quickly jumping over to Ember and grabbing one of her paws, shaking it up and down vigorously. "Nice to finally meet ya! Name's Agent 9, the Professor's personal bodyguard and butt-kicker extraordinaire!"

Grateful to finally have her arm back after feeling like Agent 9 was trying to yank it off, Ember managed to force a smile despite how much she would have rather just run away. "N-nice to meet you."

A silence soon followed. Ember dared not make a peep less she set him off again. It didn't help that Agent 9 was just looking at her blankly, not saying anything at all. Though rather hesitant to move, Ember finally worked up the courage to say something.

"W-well, I better get going now. Nice meeting you."

"Hold on a second!"

Ember cringed as Agent 9 spoke up. She'd hoped to just dart off as quickly as she could. Unfortunately, Agent 9 jumped and flipped over her to block the exit. "Why are you always hanging around Spyro, anyway?"

Ember gulped as Agent 9 gave her a sudden and serious glare. What the heck was with this monkey, anyway?

"W-well, th-that's because—"

"Wait a second," Agent 9 said, scowling as he reached for his blaster. "Are you in league with the Sorceress!? _Are you a rhynoc in disguise!?_ _"_

He pulled his blaster from his belt and charged forward, placing it to Ember's chin. Ember let out a terrified 'eek' as she spread her wings in fear. Her body started shaking uncontrollably, and she had trouble finding the words to defend herself. "W-WHAT!? N-N-N-N-NO! I'm not a rhynoc, I swear!"

"Then why are you shaking so much!?"

 _"_ I'm shaking because you have a _blaster_ pointed at my _neck_! _"_

"Hmm... A likely explanation!I knew that overly girly design of your disguise should have tipped me off! _No dragon is born looking that girly!_ _"_

"This is all natural, I swear!"

" _Suuuure_ it is!"

"Agent 9! Calm down!" the Professor finally said, quickly shuffling over to them and grabbing the arm Agent 9 was holding his blaster in. "For Pete's sake, man! Can't you see you're about to give this poor girl a heart attack!?"

Agent 9 glared at the Professor, then back at Ember, who was sweating bullets, before finally settling his glower on the Professor. With a dissatisfied grunt, he lowered his blaster.

"You win this round, spy!" he said, grumbling as he walked away and leant on a nearby wall. He crossed his arms and watched on to make sure Ember didn't try anything funny.

The Professor shook his head. "I really must do something about your paranoid mood swings one of these days." He turned to Ember. "Don't mind him. He may be a bit high strung, but he means well."

 _''High strung' is putting it lightly!'_ Ember thought, glad to have someone else to talk to other than that blaster-crazy agent.

"Now then, why was it you wandered into my lab-away-from-lab?"

Ember raised an eyebrow at the Professor's question before looking behind him at all the high-tech machinery scattered about the place. Jumping a little in embarrassment as she realized what he was talking about, she put her paw up to her mouth. "Oh, I'm sorry! I thought all the rooms in this temple were the same. I didn't think someone worked here."

The Professor chuckled, noting the obvious embarrassment in her words. "It's quite alright. To be honest, I only just set this place up a week ago. Elora said I wasn't getting out of my lab enough, so I decided to set one up here to see some new sights."

Ember tilted her head, giving the Professor an odd look. "Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose, though?"

"Not entirely. This place is rather small compared to my main lab, so I only spend thirteen hours and fifty-five minutes in it compared to my usual fourteen waking hours. At least, when there's nothing major going on, like with the Ripto fiasco a while back."

Ember stared blankly at the Professor's explanation, unsure whether this mole was trying to make a joke or was dead serious. Regardless, she quickly shook it off as she remembered the reason she had stumbled into the lab in the first place.

"Okay then... By the way, have you seen a purple dragon around here?"

"Purple dragon," the Professor mumbled, scratching his chin. "By any chance, do you mean Spyro?"

Ember beamed at the mention of his name. She nodded, trying her best to keep herself calm. "Yes! That's him!"

"Sorry, haven't seen him all day."

Ember's face fell. The Professor watched in confusion as she quickly picked herself back up. Shaking her head, she put on her best smile. Despite getting her hopes up and having them dashed immediately after, Ember knew she had no time to let it bother her.

"Okay then. Sorry for bugging you," she said as politely as she could before she turned around to skip off.

"Excuse me! Can you hold on for a second?"

Ember paused, a tiny bit annoyed that this mole wasn't letting her go. Had it been any normal day it wouldn't have bugged her as much, but with Valentine's Day already half over, and she still had yet to give her gift to her hero, she was in a bit of a hurry. Regardless, she was always taught that manners come before everything else.

"Yes?" she asked, turning around and giving her best smile.

"May I ask why you are looking for Spyro?"

"She's a rhynoc spy, I'm telling you!"

"Agent 9, that's quite enough!" the Professor said, shooting his assistant a glare. "This lab may be small, but the sensors would still be able to pick up any gnorcs or rhynocs trying to sneak in here. Tell me Agent 9, do you hear any blaring alarms right now?"

Agent 9 stubbornly turned his head, pouting as he crossed his arms. The Professor couldn't help but chuckle at the sight.

"I thought not," he said, his gaze softening as he turned back to Ember. "Again, sorry about that. As I said, he means well. When he gets on one of his paranoid theories, though..."

Ember chuckled. "It's alright. Anyway, I think it should be pretty obvious why I'm looking for Spyro."

Despite the confident tone in her voice, the Professor just gave Ember a blank stare. The smile almost disappeared off her face when he didn't jump to the conclusion that was obvious to her. She tried her best not to let it get to her. "You know, given what day it is."

Ember tried her best not to pout as the Professor still gave her a blank look. How could someone who looked so smart be so dense?

"...You know, Valentine's Day and all."

 _Finally,_ the Professor got some recognition on his face as his eyes went wide. It was all he could do not to shout 'A-ha!' once he finally understood what she was trying to imply.

"Ah, yes! Valentine's Day! That's why I was working on the machine in the first place!" the Professor said, motioning to the giant machine behind him. Rubbing the back of his head in slight embarrassment, he chuckled. "Sorry about that. My memory isn't what it used to be, especially when I get into a massive project like this."

"It's okay," Ember said with a giggle.

The Professor smiled as he placed the eraser of his pencil to his chin. "Ah, yes. It all makes sense now. It's Valentine's Day, so you're looking for Spyro to..." He paused, staring blankly at the ceiling for a few seconds before looking back at Ember. "Eh, why are you looking for Spyro, exactly?"

Ember gave the Professor a blank look. She had heard that men of science weren't all that bright when it came to things like love, but she hadn't thought they were completely clueless about it. Trying her best not to sigh, she held up her Valentine's Day card.

"I want to give him this."

Ember gently held up the red heart-shaped card in her paws. It had white trim with several tiny hearts cut into it, and had been carefully decorated with golden glitter in a way that made it noticeable but not overwhelming. On the front of the card, in carefully written cursive, it read 'To Spyro' in soft purple letters. It was clear whoever had made the card had put a lot of time and effort into it.

"It's a Valentine's Day card I made for him. I was hoping to give it to him this morning, but Hunter said he came out here today for some reason."

"Pfft, likely story. I bet that card's going to explode in his face the second she gives it to him."

The Professor shook his head at Agent 9's comment before turning back to Ember. "I have to admit, that's quite a sweet thing of you to do. Though, your endeavor might not be a successful one."

Despite the fact that she was trying her best to be patient with this mole, Ember couldn't help but feel insulted by his latest comment. Seeing the angry pout on her face, the Professor cleared his throat as he realized his poor word choice.

"Don't get me wrong, I didn't mean that as a comment about your appearance. I'm sure by dragon standards you're considered quite attractive," the Professor said, unaware that his attempt to explain himself was only digging him deeper.

As Ember glared at him, the Professor shook his head. "I-I mean, what I'm trying to say is that Spyro has never really been big on this day." He gazed up at the ceiling, lost in thought. "In fact, he hasn't been big on the concept of love in general."

Though a bit miffed at the Professor's earlier comments, Ember titled her head when she heard his explanation. "What do you mean?"

The Professor raised an eyebrow at the general confusion in her voice. "Well, maybe it's because he's still young. I'm not entirely sure how dragon years work, but he's still in that age of life where he finds affection for one another repulsive. In fact, I think one time he came to me asking if there was any way to invent a 'cure' for it like it was some sort of disease." The Professor chuckled, turning back to Ember.

Ember still seemed rather confused, giving the Professor an odd look.

"That's weird. Spyro never said anything like that to me," she muttered. _'Then again, he usually makes an excuse to leave whenever I see him...'_

Ember's body drooped as she sighed. Seeing the sudden distress he had accidentally caused Ember, the Professor was quick to speak up again.

"Now, now. Spyro may brag a lot and be quite mischievous at times, but deep down he's a good dragon at heart," the Professor said, giving a reassuring smile as he walked over and patted Ember on the shoulder. "I'm sure if you give him your Valentine, he'll accept it."

Though the sudden news of Spyro's feelings about love still had her rather disheartened, the Professor's words still managed to put a smile on her face. Besides, with all the signals she had been giving him, why hadn't he already told her to just leave him alone if he didn't have feelings for her?

Renewed determination building in her, Ember perked up as a confident smile appeared on her face. "Thank you, Mr. Professor!" she said, getting up and bouncing away.

"You're quite welcome." he replied before turning back to his machine. "Now let's see here... Maybe if I add more water to off-set the nitro-glycerine? Even if it takes all day, I'll make a working love potion in the spirit of Valentine's Day! I swear it!"

 _'Yeah, because nothing says 'spirit of Valentine's Day' like forcefully making people fall in love you,'_ Agent 9 thought, trying his best not to laugh. _'Of course, that's probably the only way the Professor_ could _get a date on V Day.'_

Agent 9 would have probably chuckled at that thought if not for the fact that he was still fixated on his crazy idea. That spy may have fooled the Professor, but she wasn't going to fool him! Whatever she was up to, it wasn't anything good. Spyro was in danger, and he was the only one who could save him.

Watching as the Professor started working on another potion, he started to slowly head towards the door. "Hey, Professor! I need to...uh...use the bathroom, yeah! That's it! I'll be back as soon as I can! Heh, get it! _Can?_ "

The Professor was too fixated on his potion brewing to pay mind to the agent's terrible pun, and he barely tilted his head to acknowledge him. "Hmm? Oh, sure, sure."

Using the temporary distraction to dart off into the hallway, Agent 9 barely paid any attention to the explosion that sounded from the room seconds later. A soft 'darn it!' followed soon after. Not wasting a second, Agent 9 caught up to Ember and hid behind a pillar.

Ember hummed to herself as she looked out at the balcony and to the ground below. The view was almost breathtaking. Perpetual autumn leaves floated in the air while the sun shone softly in the sky. Had it been any other day, Ember would have taken the time to just stare at the tranquil scene a bit longer, but she was on a timer today. Keeping her eyes open, she just barely saw a flash of purple dart across the plains.

Excited, Ember went to call out to her hero, but all that came out were muffled words. She had forgotten she'd put the card back in her mouth so she could move quicker. Quick to take it out of her mouth, she went to call out again, but Spyro had already jumped through a portal.

Though a little bit disheartened that she hadn't managed to catch his attention, Ember wasn't going to give up just yet. At least she knew where her hero was headed, and she headed towards the portal herself, unaware there was someone else on her tail.

Their separate thoughts couldn't have been more different.

_'"Elora, I didn't want you to feel left out this Valentine's Day, so..." No, that sounds too jerkish. "Hey, Elora! I normally don't do this, but today is..." No, that's not right, either...'_

_'This is going to be the best Valentine's Day ever! I just know Spyro will change his mind about this day when he sees my card! After all the work I put into it, I know he'll love it!'_

_'I'll get you, you_ _rhynoc spy_ _you!'_

* * *

Elora sat on a rock, surveying the surprisingly calm fields of Zephyr. She had to admit, this place was actually pretty nice when there weren't any bombs going off. Throughout the realms, there was an unspoken law. Despite what differences worlds they may have, on holidays they would put them aside for peace throughout Avalar. If there ever were two realms that needed this reminder more, it was Zephyr and Breeze Harbor. The two sides had been locked in an eternal war that no one knew the origin of, and even with the truce there would often be little tiffs between them.

With a sigh, Elora watched as a Land Blubber and a Breeze Builder passed each other, exchanging a sharp glare.

 _'At least it's better than them lobbing explosives at each other,'_ she thought, making a mental note to check that the Breeze Builder wasn't up to anything. They _loved_ to sneak in remote bombs to give them an edge once the 'truce' was up. Elora looked down at her checklist.

"Well, Zephyr is as peaceful as it's ever going to get so far," she said, looking down at her checklist. Despite the law generally being unspoken, Elora liked to make sure that the realms were upholding it regardless. Especially when they _really_ needed the reminder.

"Elora!"

Elora lifted her head, looking back to see Spyro heading her way. Giving a smile, she waved. "Oh, hey, Spyro! Haven't seen you in a while."

Spyro skidded to a stop as the faun stood up and faced him, giving a smile as she did. Sparx buzzed by Spyro's head, giving him a grin.

 _"Well, Romeo, it's all you!"_ he said, knowing Elora wouldn't understand him.

Spyro gave the dragonfly a glare. Sparx rolled his eyes coyly as he flew away to give Spyro his space. Spyro shook his head before turning back to Elora. Realizing it was just the two of them now, he felt a slight anxiousness starting to build up inside him as he struggled to say something. The awkward silence was starting to unease Elora. Spyro tried his best to keep his cool, despite the fact that his mind had started to race.

 _'Crud! Now what do I do!? Do I just give it to her? Is it too sudden? Ugh... I should have rehearsed this more!'_ Spyro thought, growing more desperate to find something to talk about by the second. Finally noticing the clipboard, Spyro felt like he had found his saving grace.

"S-so! What's with the clipboard?" he asked, his voice sound a bit more forceful than intended. Luckily for him, Elora seemed too wrapped up in her thoughts to notice.

"Oh! I was just making sure the realms in Avalar were upholding the holiday truce. So far it's going pretty well," Elora said, though she cringed as she watched two young Breeze Builders stealing a young Land Blubber's bucket. "At least, ' _well'_ in that they haven't gone back to blowing each other up yet. Still need to check in on Bo Peep to make sure the Breeze Builders aren't stealing his Cowleks like last time, though."

Spyro cringed as memories of those cow-bug-elephant things came back to mind.

"Oh yeah, I remember those things," he said with much disdain in his voice. He had memories of how far and long he'd had to search for those things, only to have them stubbornly refuse to go back to their pen.

Elora chuckled. "If it's any consolation, Peep is still grateful to you for bringing them back."

Despite her attempt to cheer him up, Spyro still shook his head to get the memories of those stupid animals out of it. A silence soon followed, but Spyro was feeling a bit better now that the tension from earlier was broken. Taking a deep breath, he tried his best to put on an innocent looking smile. _'Now's as good a time as any.'_

"S-so, Elora... I-I was wanting to ask you something," Spyro said, trying his best not to sound nervous, but his voice was doing a very poor job at that.

Elora seemed confused, raising an eyebrow. "Okay. What is it?"

Spyro gulped, body shaking as his throat felt dry. His mind went blank as his heart started racing a mile a minute. All of the usual confidence he'd gained on his past adventures suddenly became moot as he tried his best to organize his thoughts. "U-uh... W-would you—"

"GAH! You stupid slug! He hit me!"

"No I didn't! This dumb bird is trying to set me up! _OPEN FIRE!_ "

Elora's head jerked to the side as she saw a Land Blubber and a Breeze Builder about to throw down, and several others in the area took notice. Elora cursed under her breath as both sides started pulling out explosives. She turned back to Spyro. "Sorry Spyro, but you're going to have to ask me whatever later! I need to deal with this right now!"

Spyro froze as Elora darted off, unable to move as his mind tried to process what had just happened. Finally, he let out an exhausted sigh and almost collapsed to the ground. Unsure whether to be angry or grateful for the sudden outburst, he sat down and took a deep breath.

"I've gone through several realms and fought monsters that would make most adult dragons cower in fear, but _that_ had to be the most terrifying thing I have almost ever done," Spyro muttered to himself. He lay on the ground, his arms and legs going limp.

Not wasting a second, Sparx flew over to Spyro and started hovering over his face. _"So, how'd it go?"_

Spyro sighed, turning his head away. "I don't want to talk about it."

Sparx frowned as he floated down next to him. _"You chickened out, didn't you?"_

Spyro quickly shot up at Sparx's comment, giving him a stern glare. "I didn't chicken out! Those idiots over there started fighting and she stepped in to stop it before I could give it to her!" he growled and flopped back on the ground.

Sparx floated down next to him, giving Spyro a sympathetic look as he placed a hand on his shoulder. _"Hey, don't worry! I'm sure you'll get another chance to give her your Valentine once they settle down."_

"As if!" Spyro blurted, shooting back up and glaring at Sparx. "That had to be the most nerve-racking thing I've ever done! I felt like I was going to have a freaking heart attack!"

Sparx jumped back at Spyro's sudden outburst, but was quick to regain his composure. A few seconds passed in silence before a goofy expression crept onto Sparx's face.

 _"Oh really?"_ he said, flying a slow circle around Spyro's head as his voice took on a mischievous tone. _"That's rather odd. I mean, you're only giving it to her so she doesn't feel left out, right?"_

Spyro was taken aback, blood rushing to his cheeks as he realized he had put one of his back paws in his mouth. "Uh, well, I-I—"

 _"Of course, if you want to give up, I suppose that's fine,"_ Sparx said, flying away with his hands behind his back. _"I mean, sure, there's the chance that Elora might not get a single Valentine's Day card, but I'm sure it wouldn't affect her too much…"_ Sparx cupped his hands in front of him and tried to form the saddest eyes he could.

 _"'Oh, poor little me!'"_ he said in the girliest voice he could muster. Placing one of his hands above his eyes as he closed them, the dragonfly continued. _"'Not a single Valentine on Valentine's Day! Oh, how I wished a certain purple scaly hero would have given me one!'"_

Spyro glared at Sparx, the blush on his face growing with each passing second. "Alright! Alright! I can take a hint!" he said, picking himself off the ground.

A big grin appeared on Sparx's face as he floated over to Spyro. _"I knew you would."_

Spyro sighed and shook his head. "That didn't even sound like Elora, by the way," he grumbled, the blush on his face finally starting to subside. "Really, that sounded way too much like Ember to—"

"Hey! Spyro!"

Spyro cringed, gulping at the all too familiar voice. Sparx eyes went wide at the odd coincidence, looking behind Spyro to see Ember quickly heading their way.

 _"Holy crap! It's like Beetlejuice!"_ Sparx said, scratching his head. _"You said her name too many times and made her appear!"_

Despite Sparx's attempt at lightening the mood, it did nothing to calm Spyro down. The worst case scenario was about to happen. His fangirl was barrelling towards them, likely even _more_ love-crazed thanks to what day it was, and Elora would be back any second. Spyro did _not_ want her getting the wrong idea, something she would likely assume if she came back to see Ember trying to give him a Valentine's Day gift. Seeing that Elora was still dealing with the war that was about to go down at any second, he knew that would buy him some time.

Just as Ember skidded to a stop in front of him, Spyro knew he needed to come up with an excuse to get away. Thankfully, he had become quite good at that over the past few months he'd known her. Ember panted heavily as she looked up to Spyro with a smile.

"Hey, Spyro," she said between pants, taking the Valentine's Day card out of her mouth. "I've been looking for you since this morning."

Spyro looked back at the soon-to-be battleground. Elora was scolding the two who had originally started the impending mess. He didn't have much time left. He needed to think of something, and fast.

"Y-you have?" Spyro asked, trying his best to make it not sound _too_ overly obvious that he wanted to bolt.

Thankfully for him, Ember was too wrapped up in her excitement at finally finding him to notice.

"Yes! I have!" she said, getting up close to Spyro as a coy smile appeared on her face. "After all, you _do_ know what day it is today, right?"

Spyro shuffled backwards a bit, feeling extremely uncomfortable at Ember invading his personal space. Looking back, he wasn't sure if Elora had glanced back or not to see the scene. The thought worried him greatly as he was almost certain she would get the wrong idea if she did, but he was thankful that the two trouble-makers had gotten back into an argument. Watching as Elora face-palmed in frustration, Spyro turned back to Ember, almost jumping at how close the dragoness had inched up to him.

"U-um... I think it's Friday, right?" Spyro asked, trying to dodge where the conversation was obviously going as he became even more desperate to escape.

Ember's face went blank as she had to think for a second.

"Well, yes, but that's not exactly what I meant," Ember said, shaking her head. "Think, Spyro. Isn't there anything _special_ about this day?" she asked, giving Spyro another sly look.

Spyro gulped. He was running out of time. The fighting over where Elora was had finally calmed down.

"U-uh, is it someone's birthday?" he blurted out without thinking, his mind set on bolting the moment things went south.

 _"Noooo,"_ Ember said in a sly voice, hiding the Valentine's Day card behind her back.

"A-ah... Did the Professor have something scheduled for this day?"

"Nope!"

"...Hunter and Bianca's anniversary is today, isn't it?"

Ember felt a bit discouraged at how adamantly Spyro seemed to be dodging the obvious answer. She knew the Professor had said he wasn't a big fan of Valentine's Day, but right now he was pretending like the holiday didn't even exist. Nonetheless, she kept up her perky smile.

"It's Valentine's Day, silly!" she finally said, realizing that no matter how much she hinted, Spyro wasn't going to jump to the conclusion anytime soon.

Spyro averted his eyes. He had hoped that he could have kept that up to buy time to think of an exit strategy, but now he was in a more dire state than ever. Faking an embarrassed smile, Spyro scratched the back of his head. "Oh, right. Silly me."

Ember got a sly grin on her face as she started tracing in the dirt with her claw. "So, Spyro... Knowing that, there was something I really wanted to ask you."

Spyro gulped. He knew what was coming next, and he knew his time was running out. The Breeze Builder and the Land Blubber had finally stopped fighting and Elora had gotten them to shake hands, however begrudgingly. His eyes darted all around for anything he could use as an excuse to get away. Glancing at Ember for a split second, he saw she was getting ready to hand him something.

"Spyro, would you be—?"

Just before Ember could finish her sentence, Spyro saw something out of the corner of his eye. Two Breeze Builders were trying to push a Cowlek along in hopes of stealing it. Excitement rose in him at the sight of his salvation.

"Sorry, Ember, but we'll have to talk later! I have deal with this!" he exclaimed, putting his claw in front of Ember's mouth before he went to charge away.

"B-but, Spyro—"

"Sorry, no time! _'Kay thanks bye!_ "

Ember watched as Spyro darted off before she could say anything. It took her a few seconds to process exactly what had just happened. When it finally hit her, she drooped and let out a sigh of defeat.

Hovering closely by Spyro's head as the dragon hightailed it away from his unwanted admirer, Sparx glanced over to Spyro with a silly grin. _"Smooth, Spyro._ Real _smooth."_

"Shut up, Sparx," Spyro said, a scowl on his face as he glanced over to the dragonfly. "I had to do something, okay! She was going to ask me to be her Valentine. What else was I supposed to do!?"

Sparx put his hand to his chin, giving Spyro a sly look. _"Oh, I don't know. Maybe say 'Thanks, but I can't'?"_

"I can't say that," Spyro said, looking away with a scowl.

Raising an eyebrow at Spyro's rather odd response, Sparx floated slightly ahead of Spyro and looked back at him. _"Hmm? And why not?"_

Glancing away, Spyro was silent for a second before he finally found the courage to speak. "B-because it's Valentine's Day."

Seeing that he got nothing but another look of confusion from Sparx, Spyro groaned before he continued. "Look, it's like this. We both know that Ember only has one dragon in mind for today, and though I can totally see why…"

Sparx rolled his eyes at Spyro's comment.

"I don't plan on being that dragon. I don't want to tell her that to her face, though," Spyro said, averting his eyes from Sparx. "She's overly sensitive on _normal_ days, so on a day like today, I just don't want to, well, what I mean to say—"

Sparx raised an eyebrow, scratching his chin as he started to understand. _"Wait a second,"_ he said, floating over in front of Spyro's face. _"Are you saying you don't want to hurt Ember's feelings?"_

Spyro refused to respond, instead looking away from Sparx with a slight pout. That was all the dragonfly needed, though, and a big grin appeared on his face. _"Awww, you_ do _care about your fangirl!"_

"Do not!" Spyro said, shooting Sparx a glare that could cut through solid steel.

 _"And here I thought you were hiding because you still thought love was gross! You really_ are _growing up, Spyro!"_

"Sparx, if you don't shut up right now, I swear— _ack!_ "

Spyro was suddenly stopped in the middle of his mad dash when an arm jetted out from behind a rock and grabbed him by the neck, pulling him behind it. Sparx, who had closed his eyes in his sentimental joking, stopped mid-flight when Spyro suddenly stopped talking. Opening his eyes, Sparx looked around in confusion, wondering where Spyro had disappeared to.

 _"Spyro?"_ he asked, scratching his head. Unaware of the tail that was coming out from behind the rock, he barely had time to gasp before it grabbed him and pulled him behind it.

Spyro was about to breathe fire on instinct, growling and ready to take on whatever had grabbed him, but he was stopped when a gloved hand was placed over his mouth. Someone told him to shush seconds later. Finally getting a good look, Spyro's eyes went wide in surprise.

"Agent 9!? What are you doing here!?"

 _"I said 'Shhhhhh'!"_ Agent 9 said in a forceful whisper, once again placing his glove over Spyro's mouth. "Never mind that! We have bigger problems!"

Spyro groaned, pushing Agent 9's hand off his mouth as he gave him a glare. "What are you talking about? This better not be another one of your crazy theories. I'm kind of in a hurry here."

"This ain't no crazy theory, Spyro!" Agent 9 said, pulling Spyro closer by one of his horns to whisper in his ear. "The Sorceress sent a rhynoc in disguise to sneak into Avalar, and she's after you!"

Spyro's face went flat as he glared at Agent 9, annoyed by the monkey's constant rhynoc paranoia. "9, like I told you a few weeks ago when you nuked the Professor's sink because you were convinced a rhynoc was hiding it, I kicked the Sorceress' tail about a year ago now. There _are no rhynocs_ anymore."

"That's what they _want_ you to think, Spyro! They're just waiting for the second you let down your guard and _BAM-O!_ " Agent 9 said, yelling in Spyro's ear before he jumped backwards and slammed his fist into his paw. " _That's_ when they get ya!"

Rubbing the side of his head, Spyro scowled. "Listen, 9, I'd _love_ to play the 'tinfoil hat' game with you, but I really need to—"

"Spyro? Where did you go?"

Spyro froze up for a second before he dared to peek over the rock, seeing Ember looking around with a face full of worry.

 _'I swear, she has a purple dragon tracking radar in her head!'_ Spyro thought to himself as he hid behind the rock again. He groaned. There was no way he could talk to Elora with Ember constantly on his tail. He needed someway, or some _one_ , to keep her distracted.

Glancing over to Agent 9, it hit him. With a rush, Spyro grabbed both of Agent 9's shoulders. "9, I need you to do me a favor!"

"What is it, sir!?" Agent 9 asked, putting on a mock military voice that likely would have gotten a rocket shot his way if Sgt. Byrd had been there.

Spyro motioned for Agent 9 to peek over the rock, turning his head to look at Ember. "See that dragoness? I need you to—"

" _A-ha!_ _I knew it!"_ Agent 9 exclaimed as he ducked back down under the rock. "I knew she was a rhynoc spy! Don't worry, Spyro," he said, grabbing his laser gun off of his belt. "Mr. Laser Blaster and I will take care of this _reeeeeeal_ quick!"

Spyro watched in horror as Agent 9 armed his laser gun and went to jump over the rock.

"What!? NO!" Spyro yelled, grabbing Agent 9's tail in his mouth in mid-jump.

Agent 9's body recoiled like a rubber band at the sudden anchor holding him down, firing several laser blasts into the air as he slammed back into the ground. Meanwhile, Ember lifted her head at the racket and looked around. Seeing no one there, the dragoness shrugged before going back to searching.

Spyro stood over Agent 9 with an angry but stern expression. _"I don't want you to hurt her!"_ he whispered.

"Why not!? That rhynoc spy has it coming to her!"

The bottom of Spyro's left eye twitched slightly before he let out an aggravated sigh.

"She's not a ryhn—!"Spyro started, only to let out a frustrated groan, too stressed out to even _begin_ to comprehend Agent 9's crazy thought process. "Look, just keep her away from me for the rest of the day. Do this for me, _without_ seriously injuring her, and I'll, I'll—"

Agent 9, seeing the trouble the dragon was having, smirked. "Tell ya' what, Spyro. If I do this, the next time I think there's a rhynoc somewhere, you have to believe me and help me deal with him, got it?"

Spyro paused. The offer was crazy, as Agent 9 was usually right about his crazy theories nine times out of _never_. Had it been any other day, he would have told him no, but today...

"Fine. Just make sure she stays away from me, and do _not_ harm her. If there's even a scratch on her, the deal is off! Got it?"

Agent 9 saluted, giving his best mock military voice. "Sir, yes, sir!"

As Agent 9 jumped over the rock and dashed towards a tree, Spyro sighed and looked at Sparx. The dragonfly got the message, crossing his arms with a chuckle.

 _"Don't worry, Spyro. I'll make sure Mr. Screw Loose doesn't hurt your fangirl,"_ he said as he started to fly over the rock, only to turn back to deliver one last line. _"Besides, I'm sure you're going to want some alone time with Elora, anyway."_

Spyro growled as the dragonfly winked at him, the blush returning to his face. One thing was for certain. Today was going to be _quite_ the day.

* * *

Sparx buzzed over to Agent 9's side, the monkey hiding behind a tree as he kept a close eye on Ember. Though he knew Agent 9 wouldn't understand him, he still couldn't resist.

_"What up, secret agent man?"_

Agent 9 jumped a bit, nearly pulling out his blaster and zapping the dragonfly. Seeing Sparx hover over him, Agent 9 frowned. "Let me guess. Spyro sent you here to keep an eye on me?"

 _"Well, nice to see you too,"_ Sparx said, slight traces of snark in his voice. Nevertheless, Sparx pointed to his nose before giving the 'okay' sign with his hand.

Agent 9 shook his head. He didn't like having the dragonfly around. The only reason he did was because Spyro would insisted on it due to the dragonfly's ability to dull any hits taken. Agent 9 didn't see the point, though, since he had been fighting rhynocs long before he met them. True, he may have suffered some several tiny _painful_ blows to the head during those times, but he insisted that he was no worse for wear.

Having Sparx around made him feel like he was cheating, like he wasn't winning battles under his own power. Regardless, Sparx seemed to like to follow Agent 9 around if he could, as he often tended to get into some rather hilarious situations thanks to his loose-cannon nature.

Crossing his arms, Sparx floated down next to Agent 9's head. Agent 9 kept a careful eye on Ember as she darted around the field asking several people if they'd seen Spyro. He scowled. "I don't care what anyone says, I _know_ she's a spy. My spy senses are tingling like crazy."

Sparx shrugged, turning away. _"What a coincidence. My crazy sense is tingling."_

"Well, I don't care _what_ Spyro says," Agent 9 said, pulling out his blaster from his belt. "I'm going to take care of this right—"

Before Agent 9 could even finish that line, Sparx flew in front of him, placing his hands on his non-existent hips.

"Hey, move out of the way!"

Sparx shook his head.

"Oh come on! You have to admit, she is a little suspicious!"

Sparx gave the agent a flat look.

"...Please? Mr. Blasty hasn't seen any action in months now!"

Sparx crossed his arms, giving Agent 9 a stern gaze.

"Agh, fine!" Agent 9 said, putting his blaster away and crossing his arms in defeat. "But I swear, if she tries _anything_ funny…"

Sparx rolled his eyes, tuning the agent out as he started off on one of his rants. Sparx shrugged and gave a sigh. _"This guy_ seriously _needs to cut down on the coffee."_

* * *

Meanwhile, while Agent 9 was busy making sure Ember didn't bother Spyro and Sparx was making sure the agent didn't hit Ember with the blaster, somewhere not far off Spyro had made his way through a tunnel. He remembered making his way through this place when he'd had to dodge missiles being lobbed at him, and was enjoying the rather nice change of pace from last time.

Seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, Spyro came across a large expanse of land. Several structures and bird cages were supported by magic chains hanging high up in the air. Down below was an expansive field, a patch of green in the mist of all the chaos that usually went down. Remembering Elora saying she was going to check on Bo Peep, Spyro jumped off the ledge and glided down to the ground.

Sure enough, Elora was standing there next to Bo's Cowleks. Three Breeze Builders were standing in front of her, exchanging ashamed glances.

" _Seriously?_ " she asked with a sigh, putting her hand to her forehead.

Looking over, Spyro saw Bo Peep struggling to corral a Cowlek back into its pen. From that alone, Spyro guessed the Breeze Builders had been trying to steal one of them.

"What possible use could you have for these things that you _want_ to steal them?" Elora asked irritably. "Seriously, what are these things even _used_ for? No, _no,_ wait, I don't want to know."

In honesty, she found Cowleks rather creepy, so she could only imagine what disgusting reason they could be used for.

"Hey, Elora!" Spyro called, gliding down and landing next to the faun.

Elora looked back and gave the dragon a smile. "Hey again, Spyro. Seeing you a lot today."

Her pleasant mood was quickly dashed when she noticed the Breeze Builders making a break for it during the distraction.

"Wha—HEY!" she yelled, raising her fist into the air while her face curled in anger. "I better not catch you stealing Cowleks again! You got it!?"

Spyro watched with a twinge of embarrassment and gave a sheepish grin. "Oh, sorry. Didn't mean to distract you."

Elora sighed as she shook her head, her gaze softening as she turned back to Spyro. "It's alright, Spyro. If all I have to worry about is those guys stealing Cowleks then, in comparison to everything else that can go wrong, today will be a walk in the park."

Spyro smiled as Elora chuckled, breathing a sigh of relief that he hadn't made her day any hard than it already was. The thought quickly caused the obvious question to come to Spyro's mind. He raised an eyebrow.

"Hey Elora... If this is only causing you nothing but headaches, why are you bothering to make sure both sides uphold the truce? I mean, no offense, but I've been to both Zephyr and Breeze Harbor, and I seriously doubt one day is going to get them to stop."

Elora shook her head, letting out a sigh as she looked up at the sky. "I know, Spyro, but still…"

There was a smile on her face as she looked back down at Spyro.

"Avalar is such a beautiful realm, but even with Ripto gone the realms are rarely peaceful for even a day. I think that's how this whole truce started, with people just wanting some days to relax and appreciate where they live. Of course, _some_ realms seem to forget about that, and since no one else is willing to make sure they remember, I guess the duty just somehow fell into my lap."

Spyro listened to Elora's words with a slight feeling of awe. He remembered when he first met the faun, how she was with the Professor and Hunter when they were attempting to bring a dragon to Avalar. Of the three, she was the one who was the first to take charge. It was clear Elora loved Avalar and all the realms in it, and would do anything to make sure things were running smoothly, and wouldn't accept anything less. Maybe it was because of her headstrong yet peace-loving nature that made him enjoy being around her so much. Spyro nodded.

"Still, it sounds like a lot of work," he said, tilting his head.

"That's putting it _lightly._ Still, in the end, I find it worth it."

A silence soon followed as Elora went to look at her clipboard. Spyro felt his heart starting to speed up as he knew that now was as good a time as any. _'Come on, Spyro... You can do this.'_

"Well, I better get going. I still need to check out Breeze Harbor now to make sure the Land Blubbers over there aren't causing trouble."

"W- _wait!_ "

Spyro cringed as Elora turned around, his attempt to get her to stay sounding way more forceful than intended. Elora raised an eyebrow and Spyro took a deep breath to try to calm himself down, though it did little to help. "E-Elora, there was something I-I-I wanted to ask you..."

Elora tilted her head. It was unlike Spyro to be shaking so badly, and he looked like he was about to pass out at any second. "You alright, Spyro?"

Spyro jumped, realizing that he was shaking like he had been frozen in ice for several years and it was starting to creep Elora out. He gulped, trying his best to keep steady, though he was doing a poor job of it.

"O-oh! Huh!? Yeah, I'm fine! Really!" Despite his attempt to reassure her, the nervousness in his voice was more than enough to tell something was up.

Elora's lips tilted a little as she Spyro gave a concerned look. "Really? Because you don't seem fine."

Spyro gulped. His throat was starting to feel dry with Elora's gaze fixated on him. Looking down at the ground, he knew he needed to stop beating around the bush. Taking a deep breath, he summoned any amount of courage he had left.

"Elora, I-I was w-w-wondering if…" Spyro's body started shaking heavily. He started reaching for the Valentine's Day card he had hidden in the same pocket dimension he kept his gems in during his adventures. "If y-you—"

_"HEY!"_

Spyro jumped at Elora's sudden outburst, the Valentine's Day card retreating back into the pocket dimension. Frighten that he'd just messed things up royally, he looked up at Elora. The faun had an angry glare on her face, but it wasn't directed at him. She was glaring behind him. Turning his head, he caught a glimpse of three Breeze Builders trying to sneak away with a Cowlek, all three wide-eyed when they realized they had been discovered.

"What did I _just_ tell you guys!?"

The Breeze Builders jumped before quickly darting away with the Cowlek in tow. Elora groaned, face-palming as she shook her head.

"Sorry, Spyro, but I need to deal with this," Elora said, looked back at the dragon. "We'll have to finish this conversation later."

"B-but!"

Spyro raised a paw to try and stop her, but unfortunately Elora had already charged off after the Cowlek thieves. Spyro stood frozen for a few seconds before he finally let his paw drop to the ground. Head drooping as he sighed, Spyro placed his front paws on his head.

"Ugh, why is this so hard!?" he muttered in frustration before falling back onto the grass. Gazing dully at the sky, right now all he could really do was hope for Elora to come back soon. Little did he know that his wait wasn't going to be a peaceful one.

* * *

Up on the plateau high above, Ember had made her way through the cave. A bit discouraged at not finding her hero again, she was unaware of Agent 9 poking his head out from behind the door frame at the end of the cave.

Ember cautiously approached the edge of the plateau. Extreme drop-offs without railing had always made her uneasy. She gazed down at the grass fields below and her eyes sparkled as she saw a splotch of purple sprawled out on the ground.

"Spyro!"

The blotch jumped at having its name called. Spyro quickly clambered to his feet as he looked up to see the dragoness staring down at him. Wasting no time, Spyro darted off towards one of the nearby caves in an attempt to hide.

"Spyro, wait!" Ember called, though it did little to make him stop.

Looking down nervously, she knew the quickest way down was to glide. It was rather steep, though, and her wing strength was nowhere near as good as Spyro's. Looking around for any alternative means of getting down, she perked up when she found a ladder nearby. She wasted no time running over to it and started to make her way down.

Agent 9 growled.

 _"Well,_ this _should be interesting,"_ Sparx said, floating outside the cave and onto the plateau.

Agent 9 soon followed, groaning as he shook his head. If he was going to stop this 'totally not a spy', he was going to need to get in front of her. However, with Ember currently occupying the only way down, and not feeling like breaking his legs, that was easier said than done. He scratched his chin, trying to think of some way to get down.

"Oh, right!" he said, snapping his fingers before he pressed a button on his belt. Not a second later, a rocket somehow materialized out of the back of his belt and two handles popped out in front of him. "Forgot the Professor gave this to me to try out. Something about it being 'experimental' or some stuff like that."

_"How fitting you get to try out the experimental stuff."_

Agent 9 shook his head. Though he wasn't sure what Sparx had said, he doubted it was anything good. Focusing on the task at hand, he pressed the big red button on one of the handles.

At first, Agent 9 just stood in place for a few seconds as he braced himself. Several awkward seconds passed as nothing happened, Agent 9 growing more annoyed by the second.

"Okay, what gi- _IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVES!_ "

No sooner had Agent 9 said that did the rocket sputter for a second before shooting off into the air, taking him with it. Ember paused on the ladder. Agent 9 flew past a mountain a few seconds before Ember turned her head to see who was yelling. Only seeing a faint smoke trail in the sky, she shrugged before continuing down the ladder.

Agent 9's eyes started to water as he flew at high speeds, slowly descending before smacking into a mountain wall. Sprawled out against it as the rocket sputtered to a stop, he slowly started to slide down. Sparx soon came flying over the mountain to see the sight, and a snarky grin formed on his face.

 _"To infinity and a WALL!"_ he exclaimed, chuckling to himself as he floated down next to the agent.

Agent 9's eyes spun in his head for a few seconds before he suddenly shot his arm up at the sky. "Someone get the license plate of that truck!" he said before he quickly shook his head and pulled himself up slowly.

 _"So_ now _what, Buzz Nutyear?"_

Agent 9 just shook his head and glared at the dragonfly. "You're mocking me, aren't you?"

Sparx merely put his hand to his chest, gesturing to himself before he looked away, whistling innocently. Agent 9 growled but didn't press it any further as he heard a whispering sound. Looking back, he saw a purple paw hanging out from behind a rock, gesturing him to come closer. Not wasting a second, he jogged over to it. The paw grabbed his suit and pulled him behind the rock.

"What the heck, 9!? I thought you were supposed to be keeping Ember distracted!?" Spyro asked, giving the agent a glare that could pierce iron.

"Give me a break, Spyro! That's easier said than done considering you took away my _usual_ methods of dealing with rhynocs!"

Spyro groaned as he shook his head and gave Agent 9 a stern glare. "Are you _still_ on that? I already told you, Ember is _not_ a—"

 _"Save your energy, Spyro. It's not worth it trying to argue with a crazy man,"_ Sparx said, flying up next to the duo with a cheeky expression on his face. _"By the way, how are things going with Elora?"_

Spyro shook his head, sighing as he looked to the ground.

"Not so good, Sparx. Every time I've tried to, well, you know…" He didn't want to admit that he was trying to give a Valentine's Day card in front of Agent 9. "Something comes up that keeps dragging her away. I think I might have to wait until she leaves Zephyr before I can _talk_ to her."

Agent 9 scratched his head, noticing the odd look Spyro gave him. "What? You have something important to tell her?"

"S-something like that," Spyro said, a luminous blush starting to appear on his face.

Glad that Agent 9 was too dense to realize what was obviously going on, Spyro breathed a sigh of relief when he changed the subject. "Well, anyway, you better hurry. The spy is on her way here as we—"

_"Actually, it's more like she's already here."_

Spyro jumped, quickly glancing above the rock. Ember was a few feet away, looking around with a concerned expression as she walked around the fields. Spyro quickly darted back down, eyes wide as he gulped.

"Crud! Now what?" he asked, looking around to see there was no way to get around her without her noticing.

Agent 9 crossed his arms. "I'm tellin' ya, one simple laser blast would take care of all—"

 _"_ No one is shooting anyone with a laser! Stop even suggesting that!"

Agent 9 pouted as he sat down behind the rock, arms still crossed in defiance. Spyro poked his head out from behind the rock. Luckily, Ember had yet to realize they were there. He needed to do something to get by her; some sort of distraction to give him enough time to get away.

Glancing over, he saw the Breeze Builder and Land Blubber that had been arguing earlier sitting back to back with each other, arms crossed. They clearly still weren't on the best of terms. Looking down, Spyro noticed a pebble at his feet. Immediately, the gears started to tick in his brain. However, Spyro was also quickly reminded of the truce and the trouble Elora was going through to uphold it.

He grunted as he weighed his options. Was causing two sides to break the truce just so he could get away from his fangirl _really_ worth it...?

* * *

The Land Blubber felt a light smack on his head and spun around angrily to glare at the Breeze Builder. "You hit me!"

"Wha—No I didn't!"

"Yes you did!

"No I didn't! Guys, help! He's trying to frame me!"

"He threw the first blow! He violated the truce! _OPEN FIRE!_ _"_

Spyro watched the sight unfold, his eyes wide in horror as both sides pulled explosives out of wherever they kept them. Agent 9 was tossing a pebble up and down, looking at the dragon out of the corner of his eye. "C'mon! I know we were both thinking it."

Spyro shook his head as the place erupted into a war zone. He placed a paw on his forehead. He didn't know what he found more disturbing; the fact that he'd had the same idea as Agent 9, or the fact that he'd _almost gone_ _through_ _with it_ _._

Agent 9 watched as Ember jumped at the erupting chaos and quickly ducked behind another rock to avoid the explosives being thrown everywhere. He smirked. "Here's your chance! _Move, move, MOVE!"_

Spyro didn't even get a chance to reply as Agent 9 tossed him from behind the rock, and he landed on the ground with a thud. Now not even having the choice, Spyro was forced to dart off through the explosions as he headed back towards the cave. Ember dared to take a peak at the chaos going on, and saw Spyro as he was just about to go into the cave.

"Spyro!"

She went to go out from behind the rock to chase after him, but was quickly stopped when an explosion went off next to her. Giving an 'eek!' as she was forced to back away, she saw Spyro had taken a glance at her, a slight expression of concern on his face, before he quickly ran through the tunnel.

Ember paused, a twinge of sadness coming over her. She didn't have much time to dwell on it, though, as another explosion went off near her and forced her to duck behind the rock again.

As Elora heard the chaos erupting, she ran out from another cave and her jaw dropped. Groaning as she slapped her forehead, she scowled.

"Seriously!? I'm gone for three minutes and all heck breaks loose!?" she yelled, her body drooping in frustration. She sighed. Today was going to be a _long_ day.

* * *

Spyro jumped out of the portal to Zephyr, moderately bummed. Sighing, he knew that causing a massive war wasn't going to put him on Elora's good side. He could only hope that Elora didn't find out it was them who caused it. That wasn't the only thing that was bugging him, though. He remembered the look on Ember's face as she was caught up in the chaos, the terror and desperation on it. Had it been any normal day, despite how the fangirl could get on his nerves at times, he would have jumped in to save her without a second thought. Today, however...

"Ugh! What is it about this day that causes people to act like idiots!?" Spyro shouted in frustration, though the comment was mostly directed at himself.

He honestly had no idea _why_ he was going to such ludicrous extremes to give Elora this card. He had always thought he had been immune to the effects of this day; that the emotion he refused to acknowledge for so long didn't apply to him. Yet there he was, only thinking of making sure that Elora didn't think he and Ember were like that, disregarding the safety of others all so he could have a chance to...to...

Spyro shook his head, unable to finish that thought. Everything was telling him to just give up. If this was what it took, it wasn't worth it. Regardless, his body refused to listen as he soon found himself in front of the portal to Breeze Harbor. Looking up at the magical glowing letters that announced where the portal led, Spyro sighed. Sparx had told him that all this was because he was growing up.

Well, if this was what it was like to grow up, then it really _sucked._

* * *

Elora sighed at the sight of her singed fur. She was currently heading towards the portal back to Avalar, drooping with annoyance. Despite her efforts, the two sides were still back to business as usual. Realizing it was now a lost cause, she figured she should head over to Breeze Harbor before the Land Blubbers there caught wind of what was going on.

As she approached the portal, she heard a faint panting from behind her. Turning her head slightly, she saw Ember heading her way, a little soot covering her body as she gently held a Valentine's Day card in her mouth. Her head held low as she dashed away from the battlefield, Ember didn't keep an eye on where she was going and nearly bumped into Elora. The faun barely jumped out of the way at the last second.

Elora shook her head. It seemed like the unfortunate unaligned sides were getting caught in the crossfire. It was almost depressing to see such a young dragoness having to make a mad dash in order to avoid becoming target practice, and on Valentine's Day no less. Feeling ashamed that she couldn't do anything to prevent the returning war for just a bit longer, Elora turned to jump through the portal.

"Hey, Elora! Out of the way!"

Elora looked back to see Agent 9 charging her way, laser blaster in hand as he cut his own war path through the chaos. Sparx was a sickly green color, giving a sigh as he stayed close by Agent 9. _"Spyro better owe me a whole buffet of butterflies after this."_

Elora looked on with mild confusion, raising an eyebrow as Agent 9 got closer. A whole closet's worth of questions had risen, and she wanted answers. As Agent 9 went to jump through the portal, Elora grabbed him by the tail and his body recoiled like a rubber band.

"Hold up there, double-o'-nine!" Elora said, pulling Agent 9 back to the ground.

Agent 9 groaned as he yanked his tail away from Elora, pulling himself up and dusting it off. "Did you have to grab me by the tail? You know I hate it when people do that!"

"What are you doing here, Agent 9? And why do I get the feeling you had something to do with the war going on over there?" Elora asked, give him a stern glare.

"Who, _me_? _Nah!_ What would make you think that?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe it's because of your whole 'blast first, ask questions _never_ ' personality," Elora said, rolling her eyes. "Remember last Christmas?"

"Hey, in my defence, you had to admit that the tree suddenly shaking like that looked just a _teensy tiny_ bit suspicious!"

"That's because _we were_ _setting the tree up_ at the time!"

Agent 9 shook his head, glancing away in slight annoyance. "Listen, Elora, I would _love_ to stand here and play twenty questions with you, but I need to keep on that rhynoc spy before she gets to Spyro!"

"Eh?" Elora tilted her heard as a look of utter confusion came over her face. "Rhynoc, wha—hey, wait!"

Elora reached her hand forward as Agent 9 bolted for the gate, trying to grab his tail again to stop him. This time, however, Agent 9 was too quick and made it through before she could grab him. Elora sighed, looking up just in time to see Sparx flying by and giving her a wave of acknowledgement.

Elora blinked and scratched her head. "O-kaaaaay..."

Her day was only getting weirder and weirder.

* * *

Ember popped out of the portal, skidding on the ground as her claws braced against the marble. Panting heavily and still shaking from somehow getting through that battlefield through some stroke of luck, she grabbed the Valentine's Day card out of her mouth, making sure it was still no worse for wear. It still looked like it had that morning. Sighing, she looked around the area. Catching a glimpse of purple out of the corner of her eye, she turned her head to see Spyro heading to Breeze Harbor.

Despite her attempts at catching Spyro's attention earlier, Ember just sighed as he jumped through the portal. Putting the Valentine back in her mouth, she thought back to the battle as she walked down the spiralling ramp. How she had called to Spyro, and he'd barely given her a glance before leaving her in the midst of chaos. She shook her head. Despite her hopes, she knew she couldn't deny it any longer. Spyro was deliberately avoiding her.

She remembered the Professor saying how adamant Spyro was about this day, but she didn't think he would go as far as leaving her in the middle of a war zone to avoid getting a Valentine's Day card. Looking up at the soft orange of the sky, she knew she didn't have much time left before Valentine's Day was over. Maybe it was just foolish hope or child-like naivety at this point, but some part of Ember honestly believed that if she could just give her card to Spyro, there might be a chance that he would have a change of heart.

Now at the portal, she glanced up at the shimmering words. She knew this was her last chance. With a deep breath, she jumped through.

Seconds before she did, Agent 9 and Sparx exited the portal to Zephyr. They looked around quickly and Sparx spotted Ember jumping through the portal. Tapping Agent 9 on the head a few times, much to his annoyance, Sparx pointed towards the Breeze Harbor portal. Wasting no time, the agent nodded and jumped off the Zephyr portal pedestal.

As he made a dash for Breeze Harbor, Elora hopped out of Zephyr's portal. As she turned to head towards the Breeze Harbor portal herself, she noticed Agent 9 heading for it. Groaning as her face scrunched in frustration, she quickly started running down the spiral slope.

"Oh no you don't! You are _not_ messing up another realm on my watch!"

Despite her threat, Agent 9 and Sparx had already made it through the portal before Elora made it down the slope. Running as quick as she could, she made her way over and jumped through after them.

* * *

Spyro poked his head out from behind one of the many metal pipes and machinery that were set up across the Realm. With how persistent Ember was being today, Spyro thought it best to hide until Elora showed up, just in case. With the stars above shining bright in Breeze Harbor's perpetual night, Spyro looked up to them and sighed. Something about them helped calm him down despite how hectic his day had been so far.

"Spyro?"

For once, Spyro didn't cringe at the voice calling his name. After what had gone on, he wasn't surprised Ember had already figured out what realm he'd gone to. What confused him the most, though, was how somber her voice sounded.

Daring to sneak a peek, the purple dragon popped his head over the pipes to see Ember looking around, her eyelids drooping. The pink dragoness looked exhausted, covered in soot and walking slowly. Spyro sighed. Though it was nice to know she had made it out of the battlefield safely, he was surprised at how persistent she was being despite what he had done earlier.

Watching as Ember took one more glance around and lowered her head in defeat, Spyro couldn't help but get an odd feeling of guilt. He watched as she plodded over to one of the flying sailboats and rode it over to another part of the Harbor. Barely catching a glimpse of Agent 9 and Sparx getting on another sailboat to follow her, with Agent 9 hiding behind the sail, Spyro sat down with his back against the pipe.

Today had been a stressful one for him. His head ached as he rubbed his temples. Despite it all, he was still determined to give his card to Elora. At this point, he wasn't sure if it was because he gone through too much effort so far to give up or if he really did care about her in the way he thought he would never feel about anyone. He groaned. He remembered the time he'd gone to ask the Professor if he could make a cure for this 'disease', only to have him chuckle and say that such a thing was impossible.

Spyro closed his eyes, shaking his head in frustration. How he wished that such a thing was possible, because right now he could really use it.

* * *

Meanwhile, on the other side of the harbor, Agent 9 poked his head out from behind a wall. He watched as Ember tried to stay out of the way of the Breeze Builders and the occasional Land Blubber that was attempting to put out the fires that powered their machinery. He had no idea where Spyro was, nor did he know if Elora was still chasing after him. All he knew was that the so-called 'dragoness' was looking rather tired from everything that had happened.

He looked to his left to see an unmanned cannon sitting close by. _'Perfect!'_

Looking up at Sparx, who was mostly keeping an eye on Ember, Agent 9 knew that, if he was ever going to deal with this spy, he would have to get him out of the picture.

"Hmm? Hey, what's Spyro doing heading that spy's way!?"

_"Huh? Wha—AAAH!"_

Agent 9 jumped at the chance the second Sparx fell for his ploy, grabbing a nearby bucket and trapping the dragonfly inside it. Setting it on the ground, he placed a chuck of cement that had been broken off during the war on top, stopping Sparx from escaping.

Agent 9 jumped onto the cannon. "Alright you rhynoc scum, prepare to meet your maker!"

Grabbing the controls, he started to mess with the handles. The cannon made a sharp turn and nearly tossed Agent 9 off in the process, and he struggled to steady himself. Scratching his head, he tried giving the controls a gentler nudge. The cannon starting to spin wildly and Agent 9 held on as best he could before his grip slipped, sending him flying into a nearby wall.

With a groan, he dizzily got up and turned back to the cannon. Not one to give up, he jumped back on it. Giving it as gentle a push as he could, he managed to position the cannon to aim at Ember.

"Say hello to my little friend, rhynoc!"

* * *

Fisher the Breeze Builder gulped as he held on for dear life, feeling the wind blowing through his feathers as his trolley dashed along the track. Some truce this was! As if constantly disabling their machines wasn't enough, the Land Blubbers had once again scattered all his gears across the track. What was worse, this time he didn't have a dragon he could trick into taking care of the nightmare of trying to retrieve these things.

Currently on what felt like his hundredth attempt, he held his breath as he barely managed to get his trolley to jump over a crate of TNT. Why the heck they even _put_ live TNT on a trolley track was beyond him. Each time he had tried before, he would either miss a jump or hit something, causing any gears he had managed to collect to magnetically get sucked back onto the track. It was enough to drive him crazy. On the very inch of his last nerve, he gripped the cannon in front of his trolley as hard as he could.

Despite all it, though, this attempt had been going pretty well for him. He was pretty sure he had around forty four gears at the moment. Rushing past a group of four, Fisher's eyes went wide as a desperate grin crept on his face. All he needed was one more. _One. More. Gear._

Catching a glimmer out of the corner of his eye, he saw the final solid gold gear resting on the track not far in front of him. His grin widened as did his eyes, every muscle tensing as he got closer. _Finally!_ Finally he would be done with this—

Before he could finish that thought, however, he heard a whistling sound. Looking to the side, he gasped in horror as a cannon ball was heading his way.

_"NONONONONONONONONO NOOOOOOOOOOO—!"_

The cannon ball smacked into Fisher at full force, knocking him off the trolley and sending his gears flying. Landing with a splash in a nearby pool of water, he watched in horror as the gears magically repositioned themselves on the track.

His expression was blank for only a moment. Then he gritted his teeth, his face turning completely red in sheer and utter rage as he let out a scream of anguish.

* * *

"Whoops! Too high!"

Agent 9 lowered the angle of the cannon a bit before firing another shot. The cannon ball went sailing, flying over Ember by quite a few feet, and bounced off a wall, sailing up into the sky. An airship that was unfortunate enough to be in the way was hit in the bottom, the blow causing it to go sailing off-course while the captain struggled to get it back under control.

Agent 9 shook his head in frustration and focused as he lowered the cannon even more, keeping a close watch on Ember as he adjusted everything by even the tiniest amount. About to fire, he was stopped when he heard a faint whistling sound heading his way.

Looking up, Agent 9 saw the same cannon ball he had launched seconds ago falling down straight towards him. Pupils going small as it got closer and closer, he only had enough time to process one thought.

 _'Ah_ _cr—_ '

BOOM!

Ember jumped at the noise, looking back over her shoulder. Though she saw nothing, her body was now shaking at the thought of a war zone breaking out in this place as well. With that possibility in mind, Ember wasted no time in hightailing it out of there.

The blast from the cannonball had destroyed the cannon that had fired it and knocked over the bucket Sparx was being kept under. Shaking his head, he looked around. _"Huh? What happened? What did I—?_ Ouch _..."_

Sparx cringed a bit when he noticed Agent 9 pressed against the ground, cannonball square on his chest as he stared blankly at the sky. Body twitching slightly, he managed to squeak out a single sentence. _"I hate that spy...!"_

* * *

Elora sighed as she heard the scream. Agent 9 was already causing trouble, yet she had no idea where he had gone off to. She looked at the sailboats floating gracefully across the void, finding at least _some_ comfort in that the Land Blubbers hadn't decided to cut off the Breeze Builders only way of getting through the harbor for who-knows-how-many times in a row. Despite Agent 9 getting up to whatever shenanigans, it was nice to know that the realm hadn't descended into _complete_ chaos yet.

"Elora!"

Elora turned her head to see Spyro poking his head over one of the pipes, going to hop over it. Just as he did, his back paw caught the top of it and caused him to tumble over face-first. Elora giggled at the scene as Spyro picked himself up with a luminous blush on his face.

Giving a sheepish smile, he quickly dusted himself off. "I meant to do that!"

" _Suuuuure_ you did."

Spyro chuckled nervously. Another awkward silence followed and he shuffled around nervously. Luckily for him, he didn't have to worry about breaking it as Elora was the first to speak up. "By the way, Spyro, have you seen Agent 9?"

Spyro hesitated as Elora asked that question, his blood running cold. He could already guess the reason why she was looking for him. "U-uh, why do you ask?"

Elora shook her head in frustration as she grabbed her forehead. "I can't help but get the feeling he had something to do with the fight that broke out in Zephyr," she said, sighing as she looked back at Spyro. "On top of that, when I tried to ask him about it earlier, before he bolted off he said something about chasing a rhynoc spy."

Spyro started shaking a bit, though he quickly gave a sheepish grin and waved his paw nonchalantly. "Oh, you know Agent 9. Him and his crazy rhynoc conspiracy theories."

Elora chuckled, giving a slight smile. "Yeah, that's true. Just for once, though, I wish he could control his urges during the holidays." She sighed. "Though, there is one thing that bugs me."

Spyro watched as Elora put her hand on her chin as she looked up towards the sky. "What's that?"

"Well, when I was heading towards the portal and before I stopped Agent 9, I saw a pink dragon dash by. Poor thing was covered in soot and holding onto a Valentine's Day card for dear life," Elora said, her eyelids drooping as her voice became somber.

Spyro gulped. He already knew exactly who Elora was talking about.

"I sure hope he wasn't talking about that dragon. Whoever it was, they looked about as dangerous as an Artisan sheep," Elora said, her shoulders drooping as she let out a sigh.

Spyro shook his head, a bit grateful that Elora hadn't found out that the agent had caused the fight, and that he'd had a part in it. Nonchalantly waving his paw again, he tried to put on his best reassuring smile. "I'm sure she'll be fine. Really, Agent 9 is more of a danger to himself than anyone else."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right there," Elora said with a chuckle, though it was quickly replaced with an odd look. "Hold on... How did you know it was a girl?"

Spyro froze up, trying his best to put on his best poker face as he realized what he had let slip. Not wanting Elora to get the wrong idea, he knew he had to come up with something quick. "W-well, you said she was pink, right? How could she _not_ be female?"

Elora watched as Spyro gave a sheepish grin, noticing how uncomfortable his voice had sounded. Though she didn't know enough about dragon biology to know whether or not pink was a female-only scale color, she could easily tell something was up.

"Now that I mention it, I was too stressed out at the time because of what had happened, but I've never seen that dragon in Avalar before," Elora said, tilting her head and keeping a careful eye on how Spyro would react. "And dragons aren't all that common here either, as you already know,"

Spyro's eyes shifted nervously. He did _not_ like where this was going.

"So Spyro, I guess what I'm trying to ask is," she said, a puzzled expression on her face, "do you know that dragon?"

"W-what!? Of course not! W-why would I know…whoever that dragon is!?"

Elora watched with a raised eyebrow as Spyro hesitantly answered her question, his body shaking nervously as he gave a sheepish grin. Elora could have sworn Spyro almost gave a name before he caught himself. Something was definitely up, and she was determined to find out what it was.

Just then, a loud crash was heard, causing both Spyro and Elora to jump. Turning back to the harbor, they saw an out-of-control airship flying down and knocking several more airships out of the sky as it struggled to steady itself. One of the ships it had hit went flying into the harbor with a crash, and Elora gaped as the beings of the realm dodged out of the way.

Shaking her head, she had the sneaking suspicion that Agent 9 was connected to this. She turned back to Spyro. "Sorry, Spyro, but I think you get the idea by now."

Spyro just shook his head, this time a bit grateful that something had come up to drag Elora away. Watching as she jumped on a sailboat and road over to the other side of the harbor, he let out a sigh as his body drooped. _'That was way too close.'_

_"Hey, Spyro!"_

Spyro jumped a bit at the sound of his name, but he took a deep breath to relax when he saw that it was just his best friend heading his way. Sparx smiled as he floated next to Spyro's head. _"So, how's it going so far?"_

Spyro sighed, lowering his head. "Not really good. Every time I've tried to talk to her, something comes up that causes her to leave just as I'm about to give her the card," he said, looking back up at Sparx. "I can't help but get the feeling she's deliberately avoiding me."

_"Come on, Spyro, don't get down. I'm sure it's just your imagination."_

Despite Sparx' words, Spyro still looked away. He felt an odd sense of déjà vu in what he had told Sparx, but couldn't exactly place why it had felt that way. Whatever the case, Spyro hung his head low, a creeping feeling of guilt starting to rise again.

"...By the way, where's Agent 9?" Spyro asked as it finally hit him that there was one person missing from the group. "Weren't you supposed to be keeping an eye on him?"

Sparx got a snide smirk on his face as he placed his hand in front of his chin. _"Oh, last time I checked he was in the middle of a crater with a cannon ball for a stomach. I don't think we have to worry about him causing any more mischief today."_

Sparx chuckled as Spyro raised an eyebrow.

_"Trust me, Spyro, you just had to be there."_

* * *

Elora had her hand on her forehead as she watched the Breeze Builders who had managed to make it off the ship arguing with a group of Land Blubbers. Convinced they were the ones who were behind the out-of-control ship, one of the Breeze Builders began pulling out an explosive device. Elora groaned, knowing after what had happened earlier that it was a lost cause to try and stop them from fighting. After the day she was having, she doubted she even had the energy to try at this point. With a sigh, she turned around, knowing it best to just head back to the portal before the fighting started up again.

Just as she was heading back towards the sailboats, she noticed a glimpse of pink out of the corner of her eye. Glancing sideways, she saw the same pink dragon from earlier looking around frantically, unknowingly heading towards the war zone.

"I wouldn't go that way if I were you!"

Elora's warning caused the dragon to jump before she turned to face the faun. She was still covered in soot, her heart necklace having lost its shine. She looked extremely exhausted. Elora couldn't help but feel a slight twinge of pity towards the girl. She was still clutching the Valentine from earlier, and it looked surprisingly undamaged and well-kept.

"Things are about to break out into a war zone over there. It'd be smart just to head back to the portal to Autumn Plains."

A look of disappointment appeared on the dragoness' face as she glanced over to where she had been heading. There was a faint flash of light as an explosion went off, quickly followed by more explosions. She sighed before turning back to Elora.

"Thank you for the warning, but I don't have much choice. I'm looking for someone right now, and the last time I saw him he was heading into this realm," she said, her voice carrying an almost defeated tone to it.

Elora scratched her chin. She couldn't help but wonder who this dragon was talking about, but after Spyro's strange reactions, Elora thought she already had a pretty good idea.

"Say," Elora said, crossing her arms and tilting her head. "This person you're looking for... He wouldn't happen to be Spyro, would he?"

Ember's head perked up as she heard the name of the dragon she had been searching for. "You've seen him!? Where is he!?"

"I just talked to him a few seconds ago," Elora said, but as the explosions in the background grew more frequent, her face fell. "Though, with what's going on over there, I get the feeling he's already left back to the plains."

Ember's head drooped slightly. Having hoped that her search was finally coming to a close, she felt a good amount of energy she had left being sapped by that statement. "Oh..."

Elora's gaze softened as she saw Ember get discouraged. "Sorry I couldn't be of any more help."

"It's alright," Ember said, her voice soft as she waited for the sailboat to float over.

Once the sailboat had docked for a few seconds, both of them jumped on. Ember sat next to the sail as Elora sat down with her hooves hanging off the boat. She gazed back at the dragoness, mildly curious now that she had confirmed that this girl had some connection to Spyro. After how nervous Spyro had been when Elora had asked about her earlier, her mind raced with ideas. For now, she decided to ask the most obvious question.

"By the way, how do you know Spyro?" Elora asked, glancing back and tilting her head slightly.

"Oh, I'm a fan of his," Ember said softly, turning her head to look at Elora. "I'm Ember, by the way."

"Nice to meet you. My name's Elora."

Ember smiled before returning to her story. "I met him a while back when he came to my village, though I'd known of his adventures long before he did. I was so excited to finally meet him, and when a portal was set up from my village to where he lives, I nearly jumped for joy," Ember said, a nostalgic smile on her face as she closed her eyes.

A smirk found its way onto Elora's face as she listened to Ember's tale. "Sounds like you like him a lot."

"Oh, yes! I really, really do!" Ember said, looking at Elora with a huge smile on her face. "I've spent the whole day looking for him to give him my Valentine's Day card."

The smile quickly disappeared off Ember's face as she looked down at the ground with a sigh. "Though, I can't help but get the feeling he's avoiding me..."

Elora watched as Ember's body drooped, her gaze softening as she did. It didn't really surprise Elora. Spyro had never really been big on this holiday, but she had to admit that going out of his way to avoid getting a Valentine from a fan _was_ a bit of a jerk move.

Feeling like she should say something, Elora smiled. "Tell you what. If I see him again, I'll tell him you're looking for him."

Ember perked up a bit at the comment, though she doubted it would do much good if Spyro was avoiding her. "Thank you," she said nevertheless, a soft smile on her face.

As the sailboat reached the other side of the dock, both of them jumped off the boat and onto it. Ember looked back at Elora with a smile. "Nice meeting you. I hate to leave so soon, but I don't have much time left until Valentine's Day is over."

With that, Ember darted off towards the portal. Elora waved goodbye as she disappeared into the distance. From what she had seen, she seemed like a nice enough dragon. She scratched the back of her head.

_'I wonder why Spyro didn't want to talk about her?'_

* * *

Spyro sighed as he sat in a balcony at the temple, the stars shining bright as he rested his head on his paws. He had no idea where Elora had gone and didn't feel like wading through another war zone to find her. Sparx floated by his head, giving his best reassuring smile.

_"Come on, Spyro! Don't give up yet! We still have some time left before today's over!"_

Spyro merely shifted his head in annoyance, a puff of smoke flaring out of one of his nostrils. This day had pretty much been a complete bust. All he'd managed to accomplish was cause Elora unnecessary stress. Like always, Valentine's Day was the worst day of the year for him, but this time it had been for a much different reason.

Glancing down at the plains below, he caught sight of a pink figure walking around slowly. He saw Ember slowly looking around, her eyes drooping. Either she didn't even have the energy to call out his name anymore or simply felt like it would do no good. Spyro groaned.

 _'She never gives up, does she?'_ he thought to himself, his foul mood increasing his annoyance. With a sigh, he started to skulk off further into the temple in hopes of just sleeping the night off without Ember noticing.

"Spyro?"

Spyro jumped at hearing his name called. The person the voice belonged to surprised him the most. Elora stepped out from behind the door, giving the dragon a concerned look. Sparx glanced at Spyro, nudging his cheek with his elbow before flying off and hiding behind the balcony.

Spyro became nervous at how serious Elora's voice had become. Had she figured out why he had been following her all day? The thought caused Spyro to twitch as his heart started to beat faster, but after the last few times he managed to hide it rather well.

_'This is it, Spyro. This may be your last chance!'_

In the plains below, Ember sighed. She had given up searching as she lay down on the ground, still holding onto the Valentine. She felt like it had only gone to waste. By sheer chance, she went to glance up at the starry sky only to catch a glimpse of purple. She shot up as she looked at the balcony to see Spyro standing there.

Ember got to her feet, wobbling a bit as she tried to steady herself. Her entire body ached from searching all day, and it was taking every bit of energy she had left even just to stand. Glancing up to make sure Spyro was still there, she started to head towards the ladders up to the temple.

_"Come on, Ember. This might be the last chance you get...'_

Back up at the balcony, Elora placed a hand on her chin. "So, Spyro, I got to talk to the pink dragon I saw earlier. Ember, I think she said her name was."

Spyro's blood ran cold. That was definitely _not_ what he was hoping to hear.

"R-really? W-w-what did she say?" Spyro asked, trying his best to hide the worry on his face over what kind of things Ember could have told Elora. If she had claimed to be his girlfriend, there was no chance he would be able to give his Valentine's Day card to Elora.

"Not much, really. She mentioned she was a fan of yours."

Spyro breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, I wouldn't be surprised. I am pretty famous after all the adventures I've had," he said, trying to play off the comment with his usual normal confidence, but his words came out rather shaky.

"She also said you two had already met, and she's been looking for you all day because she wants to give you a Valentine's Day card," Elora said, tilting her head as she raised her eyebrow. "So tell me, Spyro... Why were you pretending not to know her when I mentioned her earlier? Was it because of the Valentine?"

"Uh, w-well, I—"

Elora shook her head. "Spyro, it's not nice to play with a girl's emotions like that."

Spyro gulped. This was going south fast and, judging from the tone in her voice, he knew if he didn't say something quick, his chances of her accepting his card would be a big fat zero.

"W-well, I-I just didn't want to hurt her feelings is all," he said, knowing that _technically_ he wasn't lying. Though there was more to it, that was a major reason.

Elora chuckled, putting her hands to her chin. "Really? How unlike you. Normally you make your feelings about that kind of stuff rather obvious... Unless," Elora said, a deviously playful grin appearing on her lips. "...You actually like her."

 _"_ _W-WHAT!? NO!_ _"_ Spyro yelled, a luminous blush appearing on his face as his voice echoed down the hallway.

Ember panted as she finished climbing up the ladders, her Valentine's Day card in her mouth as she wondered whose bright idea it was to make ladders instead of stairs to get into this place. Hearing Spyro's shout, she wondered what had got him so suddenly startled. Her face filled with worry, she wondered if he was in danger and picked up the pace as she headed towards the balcony.

Elora chuckled at Spyro's overblown reaction. She knew Spyro well enough to know that the word 'love' wasn't even in his dictionary, but that didn't mean she couldn't have some fun.

"Ah, _come on,_ Spyro! From what I've seen of her, she's actually rather nice," she said, the devious smirk on her face turning into a full grin. "Personally, I think you two would make a cute couple."

Spyro groaned. He was _extremely_ irritated from how his day had gone, and now he was facing the worst case scenario he had hoped wouldn't happen. If he didn't do something now to hammer home that he and Ember were not like that, there was no chance Elora would ever accept his Valentine. Taking a deep breath, he glared at Elora.

"Okay, Elora... I'm only going to say this once, so listen up."

Ember rounded a corner in the temple. She could hear Spyro's voice getting louder, so she knew he must be close. Seeing a faint light coming from a nearby room, Ember felt her heart jump. That had to be where Spyro was! Finally! She could finally give him her Valen—

_"I. Don't. Like. Ember!"_

Ember skidded to a stop just before she was about to enter the room, the Valentine almost falling out of her mouth. _'That voice... It can't be—'_

"She's annoying! She never leaves me alone, and I'm always having to come up with excuses just to get away from her!"

Ember's body started to shake as she heard the voice say those harsh words. She knew that voice all too well to deny who was saying them.

"The worst part is she can't take a freaking hint! You'd think after the tenth time of me hightailing it out of there the second I see her, she would realize 'Hey, maybe this guy _doesn't want to be around me?'_!"

Ember felt tears starting to well up in her eyes as she heard Spyro mimic her voice in the most exaggerated way possible. Trying her best to keep it together, she started to shake violently.

"To put it quite frankly, I wouldn't care if I never saw her _ever_ again!"

Finally, Ember couldn't take it anymore. Turning away, she bolted down the hallway, tears streaming down her face and blurring her vision. Unable to see properly, she tripped and fell shortly before she reached the ladders, the Valentine falling out of her mouth.

Slowly picking herself up, she sobbed quietly for a few seconds as she placed her paws over her eyes. How she could she have been so stupid? It all made perfect sense now... Why Spyro always seemed like he needed to be somewhere when she tried to talk him; the real reason he always seemed so nervous towards her advances; and why Spyro had left her in the middle of a war zone... Spyro didn't care about her at all. She felt like the biggest idiot in the dragon realms for not seeing that sooner.

Wiping the tears from her eyes, she sniffled a little, and looked down at the Valentine she had made for Spyro. The glitter she had delicately applied almost mocked her for her idiocy as it sparkled in the moonlight. More tears gathered in her eyes. She leant down, picking up the stupid card and grabbing both ends in her paws.

Without a second thought, she ripped the card straight down the center.

Ember let both ends go, and the two sides gently floated to the ground as she started to sob again. Quickly going up the steps to the ladders, she jumped and glided down to the ground, stumbling and collapsing as she landed. She barely had the energy to pick herself up before running as fast as her legs would carry her.

She had no idea where she was going, but anywhere was better than there.

Meanwhile, unaware of what had transpired, Elora playfully stuck her tongue out at Spyro. "Alright, alright! Geeze, Spyro. I was only teasing!"

Spyro felt the blood rushing to his face again, this time for a much different reason. Scratching the back of his head as he grinned sheepishly, he chuckled. "S-sorry. It's just… Everyone _always_ assumes that we're like that, so after a while it tends to wear on a dragon's nerves."

Elora chuckled. "So I've noticed," she said, a playful grin on her face. The grin quickly disappeared, though, as she gave Spyro a serious look. "Still, Spyro... Can you do me a favor?"

Spyro tilted his head, raising an eyebrow at her sudden serious tone. "Sure. What is it?"

Elora crossed her arms as she gave Spyro a serious gaze.

"The next time you see her, can you give her a definite answer on how you feel? I know you were avoiding her so you wouldn't hurt her feelings, but trust me when I say that, when it comes down to it, in the end, not knowing how someone feels hurts a lot more than loving someone and not having them love you back," Elora said, her voice so dead serious that it gave the purple dragon chills.

"...Of course, that's if you let her down gently," she finished, placing a hand on her hip as her playful smile came back.

Spyro looked at Elora, his face blank as he let those words sink in. In a way, after everything he went through today, he could understand the meaning behind them. It was amazing how she could go from sounding playful to wise and back to playful again just like that.

"Alright. I will."

A silence soon followed, and the two just stared at each other as neither could think of anything to say. Rather, Spyro did know what he wanted to say, the problem was _actually saying it._

"Well, I better get going now. Still need to check on the Professor to make sure he's still conscious after trying to make his annual Valentine's Day potion."

Spyro gulped as Elora started to walk away, jumping as soon as she turned and raising his paw. "Elora, wait!"

Elora turned around, her eyes full of curiosity at how desperate the dragon suddenly sounded. "What is it, Spyro?"

Spyro felt his body starting to shake badly as his heart started to race. This was it. No more second chances, nothing to suddenly drag Elora away. It was now or _never_.

"Th-there's been s-s-something I've been trying to t-tell you all day."

Spyro took a deep breath, trying in vain to calm his nerves as Elora tilted her head. Her gaze felt like it would cause him to have a heart attack at any second, and he knew he had to keep up whatever little momentum he had. Exhaling, he somehow found the courage to continue.

"Elora, ever since I met you, I-I thought you were pretty cool."

_''You're pretty cool? Man, I sound so dumb right now!'_

"A-a-and, though I-I didn't think much of it because we were fighting Ripto at the time…"

_'Yes, mention an evil doer in confession! That'll win her over!'_

"And, uh, th-th-though I usually don't feel this way t-towards anyone…"

_"Smooth... FREAKING smooth."_

"A-and, though I've said th-that this w-w-was something I-I would never let ha-happen to me…"

_'Geeze, why not make it even MORE blatantly obvious what you're trying to say!?'_

"E-E-Elora... I-I th-th-th-th-"

_'Why am I even trying to say things at this point!? Just shut up, Spyro! Shut up while you still have some dignity left!'_

Elora looked at Spyro has he had his internal struggle against himself, concern in her eyes as she raised her hand. "Spyro? Are you okay? You look like you're about to pass out."

Spyro jumped. His face was beet-red as his heart felt like it was about to jump out of his chest. Nothing, absolutely _nothing_ he had done before could have prepared him for this. Not facing some of the most dangerous creatures known to dragonkind; not learning endurance from having to complete the most infuriating of tasks for the most trivial of trinkets; and not even his most grandiose of adventures could compare to how nervous he was feeling right now. All he wanted to do was bolt, just jump and glide off the balcony and run as fast as his legs would carry him. Through some stroke of luck, though, he somehow still managed to stand his ground.

"Elora! Would you be my Valentine!?"

In one deft swoop, the dragon pulled out his Valentine's Day card as he forced out the words he'd never thought he'd ever say. Elora said nothing, and Spyro grew more and more anxious as the seconds passed. So many voices were screaming at him inside his head, some telling him he was an idiot, others telling him to run, while a select few just screamed either 'yes' or 'finally' over and over.

At first, Elora said nothing as her brain took a few seconds to process exactly what had just happened. When it finally hit her, Elora reeled back and her eyes went wide in shock. Worried that the fabric of reality was about to break as one of the most adamant love-hating beings she knew had just asked her to be his Valentine, Elora racked her brain to think of how to respond.

"U-um... W-wow," Elora said, not exactly sure _how_ to respond at first. She paused, taking a moment to regain her composure as she cleared her throat. "W-well, I can honestly say I never expected that _this_ was what you wanted to tell me."

It was taking everything Spyro had not to pass out as he waited desperately to hear Elora's response. Elora bent down and took the card, taking a good look at it. It was rather crudely thrown together, a folded piece of paper with a heart drawn in pink crayon on the front. Upon opening it, she saw the words rather shakily written in it read 'I think you're really cool!'

Elora couldn't help but chuckle. Despite growing up in the Artisan realm, Spyro had never really been known for his artistic abilities.

"Ah. Thanks, Spyro," she said, giving a soft smile as she gently held the card.

Spyro felt some relief at Elora's simple thanks, but his body was still shaking badly as the blush refused to leave his face. Elora still had to say whether it was a 'yes' or a 'no' to his question, and until she did every second felt like complete agony to him. With all his heart, he hoped, he really, _really_ hoped—

"However, and I'm really, _really_ , sorry for this...but I can't."

Spyro froze, his shaking stopping in an instant as he stared blankly at Elora. The faun had an apologetic look on her face as she handed the card back to Spyro. Finally, Spyro shook his head, his face crumpling.

"B-but why!?"

Though he didn't mean for it to come out sounding so demanding, Spyro blurted it out without a second thought. Elora sighed, lowering and shaking her head before she looked back at Spyro with a soft gaze.

"Spyro, I'm assuming you're still very new to this because of your previous feelings on the matter, but... Don't you see anything that would be a rather big problem in a relationship between us?" she asked, trying to keep her voice as soft and caring as she possibly could.

"W-what do you mean!? I-I don't—"

"Spyro," Elora said with a sigh, lowering her head. "I'm a faun, and you're a dragon."

Spyro shook his head. "But, Hunter is a cheetah and Bianca is a rabbit, and they're—"

"Come on, Spyro," Elora said, looking back at Spyro, her eyelids drooping. "You have to admit, a cheetah and a rabbit is nowhere near as big a species gap as a dragon and a faun," she said, tilting her head in the hope that he would understand. "Besides, how old are you, anyway?"

Spyro looked away, his eyes still wide as he gritted his teeth. "Th-thirteen..."

"That's another problem, Spyro. You're thirteen, and I'm nineteen," Elora said, putting her hand on Spyro's face to make him look at her again. "That's a _six year_ age difference."

"B-but, in dragon years—!"

Elora shook her head, staring Spyro straight in the eyes. A few seconds passed, Spyro's face unmoving. Finally, he lowered and shook his head. "Okay... I understand."

Elora sighed, her eyelids drooping as she gave Spyro a hug. "I'm sorry."

As Elora pulled away, Spyro raised his head. Trying his best to put on a brave smile, he nonchalantly waved his paw. "I-it's alright. I ju-just wanted to make sure you got a card on Valentine's Day is all."

Elora stared at the dragon, tilting her head. "A-alright then," she said, sounding unconvinced. As she got up and headed to the door, she took one last glance at Spyro. "You sure you're going to be okay?"

Spyro shook his head, giving a smirk as he raised his wings. "O-of course! Why wouldn't I be?"

Elora raised an eyebrow, unmoving as she waited by the door for a few more seconds. "I-If you say so, then. I'm going to go check on the Professor now. See you later."

Spyro kept the smirk on his face for as long as he could hear Elora's footsteps. The second the clopping sound was no longer ringing throughout the hallway, the smirk quickly disappeared from Spyro's face. His head and wings went limp as the room was eclipsed in complete and utter silence. The only thing that could be heard was the beating of Sparx wings as he flew in from the balcony, eyelids drooping, having heard everything that had been said.

 _"...Spyro?"_ Sparx was met with no response. The dragonfly fluttered around nervously, wanting to do anything to break the silence. _"Spyro? Are you alrigh—?"_

"Leave me alone."

Sparx stopped cold when he heard Spyro's words, reeling back a bit as his eyes went wide with worry. _"S-Spy—"_

 _"_ I said _leave me alone_ _!"_

Before Sparx could raise his hand to stop him, Spyro had already dashed off into the hallway. The dragonfly swore he had seen tears making their way down Spyro's face as he did.

Sparx's body drooped as he let out a sigh. _"Spyro..."_

* * *

_'Stupid Valentine's day! Stupid cards! Stupid love! Who needs it!?'_ Spyro thought to himself as he ran down the hallway, fighting back tears as he gritted his teeth. _'Stupid freaking love disease! I don't need it, and I never wanted it! I don't care if everyone's okay with it; I hate it!'_

Spyro rounded a corner, making his way towards the ladder. He had no idea where he was heading, but _anywhere_ was better than this stupid realm.

_'I should have just stayed in the tree all day like I had originally planned, but noooo! I had to be a complete idiot and—'_

Before Spyro could finish that thought, his forepaw caught something on the ground, causing him to slip and fall face-first onto the floor. Growling as he picked himself up, Spyro grabbed his face in a futile attempt to stop the pain, glaring back at whatever had caused him to trip.

"Oh, come on! Who the heck would leave a stupid—?!" Spyro cut himself off when he finally got a good look at it.

On the ground were two pieces of paper that looked like they had been cut to look like tear drops, though the left and right sides looked like they were torn instead of cut. Spyro picked the two pieces up to get a closer look. Though the red coloring was dulled from dirt and most of the white trim had the small hearts torn, Spyro quickly realized what it was.

It was the Valentine Ember had been trying to give him all day.

Putting the two halves together, though the text was a bit smudged from when he'd unintentionally used it as roller-skate, he could make out a 'To Spyro' on the front. Turning the Valentine around, he saw there were more words written on it.

_You'll always be my number one hero. I would be lucky to have you as my Valentine – Ember._

Spyro tilted his head. Though he found it a bit cheesy, what bugged him the most was why it was there and why it had been…

Spyro slapped his forehead. "Oh crud! She must have heard me when I was making a complete—"

Spyro shook his head, letting out a sigh as his body drooped. Looking back at the card and spotting some faint tear stains, he frowned and his eyes softened. How had he managed to fit all four of his paws into his mouth over the course of this day? He knew what he needed to do.

* * *

His body ached, his fur was singed, he had lost his blaster, and he was going to be tasting nothing but iron for the next few months, but nonetheless Agent 9 was determined to not give up. He didn't know exactly where he was, likely somewhere close to Autumn Plains but not in the plains specifically, but he knew he was close. That rhynoc spy was around here somewhere, and he would _not_ be letting her get the best of him!

He heard a faint breathing. It sounded almost distressed as it came from a nearby bush. He smirked as he picked up a nearby stick, raising it over his head as he slowly approached.

"A-HAH!" he yelled as he pushed past the bush and went to bring the stick down. When he got a good look at the sight in front of him, though, he hesitated.

There was Ember, or at least it _looked_ like Ember. She was covered in dirt and soot as she laid on the ground in a curled ball, her necklace lacking shine and her eyes slightly red as tear tracks made their way down her cheeks. Ember shuffled back into the bush a bit more, her eyes firmly on the crazy agent.

"Please, just leave me alone," she said, her voice not even carrying an ounce of the usual energy she normally had. "I'm already living the worst day of my life so far, so I don't need anyone making it any worse."

Agent 9 paused, looking at the pathetic appearance of the dragoness in front of him. The sad tone of her voice combined with looking like she had just gone through seven layers of hell had him confused. If this actually _was_ a spy, it was a really, _really_ good one.

Though normally the agent would always pursue his crazy theories until they were either proven or discredited, something about her eyes carried a truthful look to them. Shaking his head, he let go of the bush and let it hide the dragoness again, walking away as he dropped the stick.

Ember sighed. She had long since run out of tears and had resigned to dry sobbing to herself. It was rather late and her parents were probably worried sick, but she didn't care. All she wanted to do was curl up in a ball and forget this holiday ever existed.

"Ember!"

Ember raised her head when she heard her name called, pushing past the bush a bit to see who was there. She saw Spyro standing not far away in the forest, looking around with worry on his face. Ember just pouted as she hid back in the bush, trying not to make a sound as she turned away.

Spyro was starting to worry. Despite all his exploits, even he wasn't supposed to be out this late, especially out of the main part of the realm. He couldn't even begin to imagine what danger she could be in at the moment. If anything had happened to her because of him, he'd never be able to forgive himself.

"Hey, Spyro!"

Spyro's head jerked at the voice, eyes going wide when he heard someone call his name. His expression flattened rather quickly when he saw it was only Agent 9. "What happened to you?"

Agent 9 brushed some of the soot off him when Spyro asked, but quickly shook his head. "Not important. Listen, Spyro, I know this is probably unlike me to say this, but...I don't think that dragon's really a spy."

Spyro groaned. He really wasn't in the mood to deal with the agent's crazy ramblings.

"Gee, what was your first clue?" Spyro asked sarcastically as he turned to continue his search. He quickly turned back to look at Agent 9, though, as the thought occurred to him. "Wait, have you seen Ember? Where is she?"

Not a second after he asked, a nearby bush rustled a bit. Spyro looked back at the noise before back to Agent 9. The monkey motioned with his eyes over to the bush. Spyro nodded, before heading over towards it. Pushing the bush back gently, he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the familiar pink scales of the dragoness he was looking for.

"Ember?"

Ember's body twitched slightly as she curled up even more, that movement being the only acknowledgement that she was aware of his presence.

Agent 9 scratched his head, uncomfortably shifting his eyes. "Uh, I'm just going to go now. Yeah, so... See ya!"

Spyro turned to see the agent head back to the main part of the realm. Shaking his head, he turned back to Ember. "Ember? Are you okay?"

Ember didn't respond, just continuing to lie on the ground in her little ball. Spyro sighed.

"Look, Ember, I'm sorry," he said, sitting down next her with his body half sticking out of the bush. "I didn't mean any of the words I said back there."

"Yes you did."

Spyro's face drooped. Her voice carried a both depressed and flat tone to it, but at least she was still willing to talk to him.

"No, I didn't," he said, placing a paw on Ember's back to try to get her to listen.

Ember jerked her shoulder the second Spyro placed his paw on it, scooting her body to the other side of the bush. Spyro sighed as he placed his paw back on the ground.

"Listen, my day wasn't exactly pleasant, and...Elora was teasing me about how you were looking for me," Spyro said, cringing a bit at the mention of Elora's name. He lowered his head as he moved closer to Ember. "But that was no excuse for me saying those things."

"It doesn't matter. All it did was just make you say how you really feel about me."

Spyro closed his eyes, shaking his head as he opened them and gave Ember a soft look. "Ember, that's not how I feel about you at all."

"Really?" she asked, head shifting slightly as she glanced at Spyro from the corner of her eye. Her normally bright blue eyes were now rather dull and lifeless. She turned away again.

"Then how come every time I try to talk you, you always make an excuse to get away? How come you always tend to freeze up when I call your name?" she asked, her head turning slightly as she glanced at Spyro again. "…Why did you leave me in that chaos back there, despite looking right at me before you did?"

Spyro paused, his face blank as he tried to rack his brain for a way to respond. As several seconds passed, and Spyro couldn't think of anything to say, Ember sighed and turned away. "I thought so."

Spyro grunted softly. He had no idea what to say. He knew he was out of his element with this, and dealing with emotions like this wasn't exactly one of his strong suits. Maybe he was going about this all wrong? Maybe if he tried approaching it from another angle?

He shook his head as only one thing popped to mind. This was probably going to blow up in his face massively, but it was better than saying nothing.

"Ember, I'll admit... You do get on my nerves sometimes…"

Ember glanced over at the sudden bold statement, her eyelids drooping as she looked at Spyro. "So you _do—_ "

" _But!_ That doesn't mean I don't like you," Spyro said as he inched closer, placing his paw on her shoulder. "Ember, I think it's pretty obvious that I'm not used to having someone who likes me in that way. The fact that you were so open about how you felt about me didn't exactly help. Whenever you'd hit on me, it would make me feel uncomfortable because I didn't really know how to respond."

Ember said nothing as she listened to Spyro, her expression unchanging.

"Listen, Ember. I'm not sure if I'm ready for something like that yet, especially after the day I've had."

"But I really like you, Spyro."

Ember turned head to face Spyro, her blue eyes having a twinkle to them as they shined in the moonlight. Spyro withdrew his paw as he looked at her, his expression soft.

"I know, but..." Spyro closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. He _really_ wasn't good at this.

Ember lowered her head as she looked away, gazing at the ground. "Spyro... I want to ask you something. Please answer it honestly."

Spyro opened his eyes, watching her carefully as she looked at him.

"Is there... Is there really any chance between us? Any chance that maybe some day...?"

Spyro paused, thinking about her question as he looked away. He sighed before turning back.

"Maybe," he said, lowering his head. "All I know is that, a few weeks ago, I thought that love was a disease, but now...I think I'm slowly beginning to understand why people feel that way about others."

He closed his eyes. _'And how much it hurts when they don't feel that way back.'_

Ember said nothing as she looked at Spyro, though her eyes seemed a bit less dull when he finished. Her expression had gone from sad to neutral, and she had uncurled a bit from the ball she was in. Spyro opened his eyes with a slight smile.

"Until I fully understand it, though... Can we still be friends?" he asked, reaching his paw out towards her.

Ember looked at the paw extended in friendship before looking back at Spyro, her eyes wide as she gazed at him. "Y-you don't h-hate me, right?"

Spyro shook his head before looking at Ember with a soft smile. "No, Ember. I don't hate you."

Ember's eyelids drooped at hearing the reassurance, her expression softening as she gazed at Spyro. She turned around, reaching out and grabbing Spyro's paw to shake it. Not a second later, she pulled Spyro into a hug as she rested her head on his shoulder. Though it caught him off guard, Spyro's expression quickly softened as he placed one of his arms around Ember. They stayed like that for a few seconds before Ember finally pulled away, a smile on her face as her eyes appeared to finally have some life to them again.

Spyro smiled at seeing Ember finally in a better mood again.

"Well, we better head to the plains. I bet the others are probably wondering where the heck we are," Spyro said as he went to turn around.

"Spyro."

Spyro looked back at Ember. There was a soft smile on her face as she gazed at him. "...Thank you."

Spyro smiled, nodding his head as he extended his paw to help Ember up. Though she was still exhausted by the day she'd had, she felt a renewed sense of energy as she stood by her hero.

With a smile, they started to head back to the main realm.

* * *

"Oh, I really hope Spyro's alright."

Elora was currently searching around close to Autumn Plains, her face filled with worry as Sparx floated by her side. She looked around frantically as she headed back to the plains. "If I knew he was going to take it that badly, I would have stayed and made sure he was okay. I didn't mean to hurt him..."

Sparx flew in front of her and shook his head. He knew Elora wouldn't understand him if he said anything, so he could only hope his gentle gaze was enough to reassure her that it wasn't her fault.

Elora sighed as she looked at the ground. "This is bad, Sparx. Spyro's out there somewhere at this time of night, I have no idea where Agent 9 went to so I can't ask him for help, the Professor's out cold, and I have no idea if I can get a hold of the others!"

Her mind raced as she approached the border of the plains. Seeing the pool coming into view, she sighed as she hopped down back into the main part of the realm. "Well, it's official. Combined with all the other stuff that's happened to me today, this has to be the worst Valentine's Day ever."

She shook her head as she looked up at the temple. She really hoped that Spyro would be alright out there for the night. He was a tough dragon for his age, no one could deny that, but most of the outer realm was still uncharted. There was no telling what kind of creatures lurked out there. She placed her palm to her forehead, heading back to the temple to hopefully find something to deal with her pounding headache.

Sparx drooped as he floated in the air. He sighed, worried about his friend and unsure what to do. All he could think of was heading back into the outer realm, despite how dangerous it was, in hopes of finding him. He turned around to head back the way he came...and quickly reeled back in shock, his eyes going wide as he gaped.

Quickly flying back to Elora, he tapped her on the shoulder. Elora turned around and gasped.

There, in one of the cubby holes in the wall, lay Spyro and Ember, both fast asleep as Ember rested her head on the back of Spyro's neck. The dirt and grime on Ember's body had been cleaned off, and some dirt particles could be seen floating in the pool. Close by lay a Valentine's Day card, a red heart that looked like it had been torn in two and was held together by two strips of clear tape. Both Spyro and Ember had smiles on their faces as their sides rose and fell with gentle breathing.

Sparx scratched his head, his eyes still wide as he struggled to come up with a response. _"D-did we step through a portal to an alternate realm while we were out there or something?"_

Elora looked at the two dragons and a soft smile found its way to her face. She crossed her arms, glancing over to Sparx. "Come on, Sparx. We should probably go tell the Artisans that Spyro's alright."

She took one last glance at the pair of dragons before she turned around and started to head towards the temple.

Sparx just floated in place for a few seconds, still dumbfounded over the sight. Though he had always thought Spyro cared more for Ember than he let on, he had never in a million years thought he would see the sight before him. With a sigh, he turned around and rubbed his head.

 _"I_ really _wish I had brought a camera with me..."_

As the dragonfly left, Spyro stirred in his sleep, opening his eyes dozily to look around. He glanced up at Ember out of the corner of his eye as the dragoness let out a few soft snores. Without really thinking, he wrapped his tail around Ember's. She stirred for a second before a big smile appeared on her face. Spyro smiled before looking down at the Valentine's Day card.

_'Maybe Valentine's Day isn't that bad after all.'_

**Author's Note:**

> Massive A/N: Well, if anyone is still reading this massive thing by this point, I'd like to say a few things at the end like I always do with my stories. First off, again, I'd like to thank Riverstyxx for beta-reading all this on such short notice, especially with how long this was. I was seriously thinking about splitting this up into chapters and posting this over the course of Valentine's day, but overall I felt it read better as a one-shot.
> 
> Also, for those who are likely to ask why I did a classic fic instead of the obvious Spyro X Cynder fic for Valentine's day, well I have several reasons. First, I'd like to say I do like Spyro X Cynder. As I said on my profile though, classic series fics just come easier to me than ideas for Legends fic. Also, this gave me an excuse to write several smaller plot bunnies I've had that have been burning a hole in my brain for sometime now. Plus, I'm pretty sure there's going to be a lot of people uploading Spyro X Cynder fics today, and I'm someone who likes to go against the norm because I'm a fanfic hipster like that. /maim'd horribly
> 
> Also, I hope the whole 'Agent 9 thinks Ember is a rhynoc spy' didn't get too grating to read. To be honest, I actually didn't have that planned originally. It just kind of happened as I wrote to be honest, so I just kind of ran with it. Believe it or not, despite being the longest one-shot I've ever written, I actually had to cut a lot of the content I had planned originally to get it done before V-day. Can honestly say the fic would have probably reached the 30,000 word mark if I didn't have a deadline. 
> 
> I'm also a bit dissatisfied with how some of the more emotional scenes went because of the deadline, particularly the part at the end with Spyro and Ember. I was struggling a bit with finding how to properly word and explain that scene, and because of the deadline I can't help but feel it was a bit rushed... Eh, maybe I'll come back to this one day and rewrite it too something more fitting.
> 
> Anyways, part of me actually wanted to continue this story even after V-day. I might make this a thing where I write in this 'mini-verse' for each holiday. Not sure if I'll go through with it though. If I do, I'll leave you with the main thing I've learned from writing this one-shot: Write any and all holiday fics well in advance. /shot


End file.
